Seoul Station

Not to be confused with Soul Station.

Seoul Station
Seoul Station
Korean name
Hangul	서울역
Hanja	서울驛
Revised Romanization	Seoul-yeok
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏul-yŏk
Railway Services
Daily ridership	Based on January–June 2011. Gyeongbu: 90,663 Line 1: 131,091 Line 4: 33,135 Gyeongui: 13,863 AREX: 17,084
Line 1 ← City Hall Namyeong →
Station number	133
Address	122 Bongnae-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Date opened	August 15, 1974
Type	Underground
Platforms/tracks	1 / 2
Operator	Seoul Metro
Line 4 ← Hoehyeon Sookmyung Women's University →
Station number	426
Address	14 Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Date opened	October 18, 1985
Type	Underground
Platforms/tracks	1 / 2
Operator	Seoul Metro
Gyeongui Line Terminus Sinchon →
Station number	P313
Address	43-205 Dongja-dong, 405 Hangangdaero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Date opened	July 8, 1900
Type	Aboveground
Platforms/tracks	2 / 2
Operator	Korail
AREX Terminus Gongdeok →
Station number	A01
Address	43-227 Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Date opened	December 29, 2010
Type	Underground
Platforms/tracks	2 / 4
Operator	Korail Airport Co.

Seoul Station is a major railway station in Seoul, South Korea. The station is served by the Gyeongbu Line, its high-speed counterpart and the Gyeongui Line, with frequent high-speed, express, and local services to various points in South Korea.

Services

The station is the primary terminus for the KTX and express services to Busan. The station is also served by about a dozen trains per day on the Honam Line and its express counterpart to Gwangju and Mokpo. The station used to be the terminus for all long-distance trains on the Gyeongbu, Honam, Jeolla, and Janghang Lines, but in early 2004, the terminus for most Honam, Jeolla, and Janghang Line trains was moved to Yongsan.

AREX express trains provide service to Gimpo Airport and Incheon International Airport. Service began December 29, 2010.

Seoul Subway serves the station with Line 1 and Line 4.

Station layout

KORAIL

↑ Sinchon

West | | 1413 | | 1211 | | 10９ | | ８７ | | ６５ | | ４３ | | ２１ |

Namyong ↓

AREX

↑ Terminus

Local

Express

↓ Gongdeok·Incheon International Airport

Line	Train	Destination
●AREX	Local	Exit Only
●AREX	Local	For Gimpo Airport·Incheon International Airport
●AREX	Non-stop	For Incheon International Airport

• Platform numbers are not assigned; instead, platforms are classified as "express" or "local"

History

The former Seoul Station, named "Gyeongseong Station" started operating in a 33m² (10 pyeong) wooden building in July 1900 with the extension of the Gyeongin Line north of the Han River. It was originally located near Yeomcheon Bridge and was renamed as "Namdaemun Station" in 1905, due to its proximity to Namdaemun. The Gyeongbu Line opened in 1905, and the Gyeongui Line opened in 1906 - both lines connecting to the station. In 1910, when the original wooden building was demolished and a new train station was erected, the station reverted to the name "Gyeongseong Station," when the name of the city of Seoul changed from Hanseong to Gyeongseong ("Keijo" in Japanese). The construction of the current "Old Seoul Station" began on June 1, 1922, and was finished on September 30, 1925.

The station was renamed "Seoul Station" on November 1, 1947. The station was expanded throughout the post-Korean War era; the Southern Annex of Seoul station was completed on Dec 30, 1957, and the Western Annex was completed on Feb. 14, 1969. In 1975, the Korea National Railroad's office moved from Seoul Station to the new West Annex Office. A raised walkway connecting the Seoul Station and the West Annex was completed on 1977, and Korea's first privately funded station was erected in 1988 in time for the Seoul Olympics. In 2004, a new terminal adjacent to the existing one was completed to coincide with the introduction of KTX high-speed rail service.

Old Seoul Station

Old Seoul Station

The Old Seoul Station (Hangul: 구서울역사; Hanja: 舊서울驛舍, literally meaning Old Seoul station building), originally named Keijo (Gyeongseong) Station and designed by Tsukamoto Yasushi of Tokyo Imperial University, was finished on November 1925. This red brick building, designed in an eclectic style, features a Byzantine-style central dome and a centralized and symmetrical layout. The floor of the Central Hall on the ground floor was covered with granite and the walls were covered with man-made stone. The wooden floor inside the building’s VIP Lounge was covered with birch wood and a western style restaurant was located on the 2nd floor.

On 25 September 1981, the old station was designated as Historic Site 284. A restoration project of the old station began on September 2007 to "transform the former Seoul Station, which had lost its functionality as a train station since the opening of the new KTX Station, into a premier national multidisciplinary cultural facility." On the same year, the management was transferred from the Cultural Heritage Administration to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. After the design for former Seoul Station’s remodeling was developed in 2009, the remodeling construction began.

On 9 August 2011, the station was reopened as a culture complex with its original exterior, after a two year of restoration project by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the state-run Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF). On 2 April, 2012, "Culture Seoul Station 284" was officially launched "as a space for diverse artistic and cultural creation and exchange." The official name, which combines the station's historic, spatial, and urban symbolisms, was selected through a national open call. By combining the notion of a cultural space with the old Seoul Station’s historic site number 284, the name aims to embody the concepts of preserving its appearance and value as a historic site while simultaneously cultivating the meaning of the station as a place of various cultural intersections. The restored station is a 9,202m² building with two stories above ground and one story below ground level. The former station, before the renovation, has the main lobby, a waiting room, and a VIP room on the first floor, and a barber shop and restaurants on the second floor. Post-renovation, the first floor contains a venue for performances, exhibitions and events, and a multipurpose hall on the floor above.

General information

• Korail Seoul Station
  • Opening date : July 8, 1900
  • Operator : Korail
  • Address : 43-205, Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (1 Namdaemunno)
  • Platforms : 14 + 1 Gyeongui Line Platform

• Seoul Metro Line 1 Seoul Station
  • Opening date : August 15, 1974
  • Operator : Seoul Metro
  • Address : Bongnaedong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
  • Platforms : 2, island

• Seoul Metro Line 4 Seoul Station
  • Opening date : October 18, 1985
  • Operator : Seoul Metro
  • Address : Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
  • Platforms : 2, island

• AREX Seoul Station
  • Opening date : December 29, 2010
  • Operator : Korail Airport Co.

Gallery

• 

  KTX in platform

See also

• Transportation in South Korea
• Korail
• Korea Train Express

External link

• Seoul Station introduction (Korail Homepage)
• Seoul Station introduction (KTX Cyber ​​Station)
• Seoul Station introduction (Incheon International Airport Railroad Homepage)

References

Preceding station		Seoul Metropolitan Subway		Following station
City Hall toward Soyosan		Line 1		Namyeong toward Incheon or Sinchang
Hoehyeon toward Danggogae		Line 4		Sookmyung Women's University toward Oido
Terminus		Gyeongui Line		Sinchon toward Munsan
Terminus		AREX		Gongdeok toward Incheon International Airport