Man-soo, a railroad engineer, experiences a traumatic accident, while Hanna, a German-language university lecturer who is having an affair with one of her colleagues, also suffers a personal tragedy.

Following a lukewarm reception to his debut feature, The Twins, director Park Heung-sik wrote the screenplay for The Railroad determined to make a film with a story he wanted to tell.

Director Park drew on his own experiences for the film; the character of Hanna was influenced by a woman he once saw in Taejongdae who looked suicidal, and he chose her profession as a German-language lecturer having studied German himself.

[4][5] Lead actor Kim Kang-woo was disappointed with the low level of distribution, and appeared at screenings by himself in an effort to promote the film.

[6] In November 2007, The Railroad screened at the 25th Torino Film Festival in Italy, where it won the FIPRESCI award as well as Best Actor for Kim Kang-woo's performance.