Seoul Metropolitan Subway
| Seoul Metropolitan Subway | |||
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| Background | |||
| Owner | Urban Rail: Seoul Metropolitan City Government Wide-area Rail: Korea Rail Network Authority, Korail Airport Railroad, Sin Bundang Line |
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| Locale | Seoul, South Korea Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gangwon-do |
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| Transit type | Rapid transit, Commuter rail | ||
| Number of lines | 16 including 9 urban rail lines in Seoul |
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| Number of stations | 328 only including lines operated by Seoul Metro,SMRT,Metro 9 546 total |
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| Daily ridership | 7.0 millions (2011) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 1974 | ||
| Operator(s) | Urban Rail: Seoul Metro, SMRT, Metro 9, Incheon Subway Wide-area Rail: Korail, Korail Airport Railroad, Sin Bundang Line |
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| Technical | |||
| System length | 903.2km including 317km (196.8 mi) of urban rail lines in Seoul |
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| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||
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The Seoul Metropolitan Subway or Metropolitan Subway in Seoul, in Seoul, South Korea, is one of the most heavily used rapid transit systems in the world, with well over 8 million trips daily on the system's sixteen lines (total figures for Seoul Metro, Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation & Korail commuter lines). The system serves Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi-do, northern Chungcheongnam-do, and western Gangwon-do. There are connections to the Incheon International Airport Railroad (A'REX) at Seoul Station and Gimpo Airport, and a free transfer with the single-line Incheon Subway system at Bupyeong on Seoul Subway Line 1. Since 2008, all stations operated by Seoul Metro and SMRT have been fitted with Platform Screen Doors, but only within Seoul and excluding stations operated by Korail.
All directional signs in the Seoul Subway are written in both Korean and English. Station signs and some maps also display Hanja. The pre-recorded voice announcement in the trains indicating the upcoming station, possible line transfer and exiting side are all in Korean followed by English, and in some cases Japanese then Chinese.
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[edit] Operators
The metropolitan subway network is operated in two forms[1] and by seven different organizations:
[edit] Urban Rail
- Seoul Metro; 서울메트로 (Line 2, underground section of Line 1, and large parts of Lines 3 & 4). The corporation runs a total of 199 trains at 115 stations on lines 1–4. Generally, operation intervals are 2.5–3 minutes during rush hours and 4–6 minutes during non-rush hours. An average of 3,879,000 passengers use subway lines 1–4 daily.[2]
- Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation; 서울특별시도시철도공사, 서울도시철도 (SMRT) (Lines 5, 6, 7, and 8). An average of 2,037,000 passengers use subway lines 5–8 daily.[2]
- Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation for Line 9
- Incheon Metro for Incheon Subway
[edit] Wide-area Rail
- Korail (Korea Railroad); 코레일(한국철도공사) (Bundang Line, Jungang Line, Gyeongui Line, Gyeongchun Line, most of Line 1, and parts of Lines 3 & 4). An average of 2,177,000 people use Korail's Seoul commuter lines daily.[2]
- Korail Airport Railroad Co. for A'REX
- NeoTrans Co.,Ltd. for Sin Bundang Line
The operators for lines currently under construction (see below) are as follows:
[edit] Lines & Channels
[edit] History
Korail, the forerunner of Seoul Metro, began operating Line 1 in 1974. Lines 2, 3, and 4 followed in the late 1970s and 1980s. SMRT was formed in 1994 to take over operation of lines 5 to 8. Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation (a joint venture between Veolia Transport and Hyundai Rotem) was formed in 2009 to operate line 9. NeoTrans Co. Ltd. was formed in 2011 to operate Sin Bundang Line.
[edit] Trains
[edit] Ticket
Ticket prices start at 1000 won for a trip up to 10 km, with 100 won added for each subsequent 5 km. Half-priced children's tickets are available. Riders may also enter the system using a transportation card such as T-money, Upass, and KB Free Pass. There is a 100 won discount for using a transportation card. The city government also uses Seoul Citypass as a transportation card. Senior citizens and disabled people qualify for free transit and can get a free ticket or enter and exit using side gates rather than turnstiles.
Travel on AREX (Airport Express) requires a separate ticket, and there is no discount when transferring to or from the line. However, if transferring from a Seoul Metro station to the AREX (Airport Express), it is possible to stay inside the turnstiles and pay using your T-money card.
Metro operators have replaced older magnetic strip paper ticket with new RFID tickets since May 1, 2009. The current single-use ticket is a credit-card sized plastic card with the same RFID technology, which are obtained from automated machines in every subway station. A 500 won deposit fee is included in the price, and is refunded when the ticket is returned at any station.
[edit] Current construction
[edit] Opening 2012
- EverLine Rapid Transit System will be a new line branching off the southern Bundang Line extension and running east into Yongin and then to the theme park Everland. Construction started in 2005 and is expected to open before the end of 2012.[3]
- By 2012, the Bundang Line will be extended north from Seolleung to Wangsimni and south to Yongin and Suwon, with eventual plans (sometime after 2013) for it to link up with a new "Suin" (Suwon-Incheon) Line in two parts all the way to Incheon, completing, together with a section of Line 4, a southern outer semicircle.[4] The Suin Line will open in two segments; 2013 and 2016.
- Line 7 will be extended west by 6.1 miles (9.8 km) from Onsu to meet the Incheon Subway at Bupyeong-gu Office. Nine new stations will be added by 2012.
- Uijeongbu City in Gyeonggi-do is building Uijeongbu LRT, a 15-station light rail line connecting various parts of Uijeongbu with Seoul Subway Line 1. Opening is scheduled for June 27th, 2012.
[edit] Opening 2013+
- Line 9 is being extended from Gangnam to Sports Complex by 2013, and then onward to Oryun Station by 2016.
- From 2009 ~ 2014 Seoul City has been building a 11.4 km (7.1 mi) Light Rapid Transit line named Ui LRT or The Seoul Gyeongjonchol Shinlim Line (경전철 신림선), from Ui-dong to Sinseol Dong in northern Seoul [5]. The line is expected to carry 110,000 passengers a day and will have 12 stations. It will connect to Line 4 at Sungshin Women's University, Line 6 at Bomun and Line 1 & 2 at Sinseol Dong.
- Sin (New) Bundang Line is a new line from Gangnam in Seoul to Jeongja in Bundang, Seongnam. Phase 1 opened October 28th, 2011. Phase 2 (2016) will extend the southern end of the line five stops with four additional proposed stops. Phase 3 (2018) will extend north-west six stops to Yongsan Station.[5]
- The future 29.3 km Incheon Subway Line 2 is planned to have 27 stations from Oryu dong in Seo-gu to Incheon Grand Park.[6] The line been under construction since June 26, 2009 and will be open in August 2014.[7] It will intersect Line 1 at Incheon City Hall Station, Korail Line 1 at Juan Station, and AREX at Geomam Station.
[edit] Planned construction
There are several major works still in the planning stage:
- (2013 ~ 2022) Sin Ansan Line will be connecting Ansan, Siheung, Seoul Station, and Cheongnyangni Station. At its terminus at Cheongnyangni, the line will be connected to a new light rail line called Myeonmok Light Rail Line
- From Wangsimni Station, an interchange station of Line 2, Line 5, Jungang Line, Bundang Line (end 2011 or mid 2012), and Dongbuk Light Rail Line is planned.[8]
- Incheon Line 3 is planned to be a semi-circular subway line of Incheon. It will intersect Seoul Subway Line 1 at Dowon Station and Dongmak Station at Incheon Subway Line 1 as well as the future Incheon Subway Line 2.[9]
- The Transportation and Construction Committee of the National Assembly has approved that Line 4 will be extended from Danggogae to Jinjeop, Namyangju.
- Myeonmokseon LRT (면목선 경전철) is a planned 12 station 9.05 km line from Cheongnyangni Station to the future Sinnae Station. Customers will be able to transfer to Seoul Subway Lines 1, 6, 7, and the Gyeongchun Line. Cost is estimated at 855.9 billion Won. Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2013 ending in 2018.[10][11]
- Several Light Rapid Transit lines are various forms of production.
[edit] Cancelled construction
- Wolmi Galaxy Rail (월미은하레일 Wolmi Eunha Reil) is a partly completed monorail but currently non-operational monorail on the island of Wolmido in Incheon, South Korea. The line was scheduled to open on March 2010[12], but opening had been repeatedly postponed.[13] In 2011, Joongang Daily reported that construction has been indefinitely suspended due to "colossal corruption"[14], and that what has been built is set to be demolished due to "safety issues".[15]
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seoul Subway |
- Incheon Subway
- Pyongyang Metro
- List of Korea-related topics
- List of metro systems
- List of urban rail systems by length
- Seoul Metropolitan Subway stations
- Top 10 metro systems in terms of annual passenger rides
- Top 10 metro systems in terms of number of stations
- Transportation in South Korea
[edit] References
- ^ Minstry of Land, Transport and Martime Affairs of South Korea: Definition of Urban Rail and Wide-area Rail
- ^ a b c "Transportation: Subway". Seoul Metropolitan Government. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070703162807/http://english.seoul.go.kr/residents/transport/trans_04sub_01.html. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://frdb.new21.org/125.htm
- ^ "DX Line 홈페이지에 오신것을 환영합니다" (Korean Language). Shin Bundang. http://shinbundang.co.kr/information/information04.asp. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Incheon metro Line 2 signalling contract awarded". Railway Gazette International. 2010-02-09. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view//incheon-metro-line-2-signalling-contract-awarded.html.
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ Lee, Jinchol (July 10, 2011). "청량리-신내역 면목선 경전철 민자사업 본격화". E Daily Jonghab News. http://www.edaily.co.kr/news/NewsRead.edy?SCD=DF13&newsid=01246406596313208&DCD=A00106&OutLnkChk=Y. Retrieved 09 Sept. 2011.
- ^ Kim, Gyeongtaek (July 11, 2011). "청량리~신내역 경전철 면목선 2013년 착공". Kukmin Ilbo Kuki News. http://news.kukinews.com/article/view.asp?page=1&gCode=kmi&arcid=0005144532&cp=nv. Retrieved 02 Sept. 2011.
- ^ http://www.hyundaiilbo.com/cgi/board.html?type=view&class=hd12&no=321171&page=1&mode=&search=&key_word=
- ^ http://www.kyeongin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=528142
- ^ http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2936266
- ^ http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2937921
[edit] External links
- Official Homepages
- City Government
- The Seoul Underground Subway: Official Seoul Tourism
- English-language WMV video describing Seoul Subway history, current construction and future projects
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