Seoul Metro continues its expansion

“It will be great since it takes only 16 minutes from Bundang to Gangnam Station,” said Bundang resident Shin Moonkyeong. “So, I would go to Seoul more often without worrying too much coming back to Bundang at night and also may take classes in Seoul. Also, I can meet my friends in the Gangnam area more often.”

This new line provides a major shortcut between Bundang, an upscale part of Seongnam City and Gangnam, a major business and entertainment district in Seoul. Travel between the two affluent districts now takes only 16 minutes, less than half the previous time on the older Bundang Line, and is expected to boost commerce in Bundang, which currently is home to 174 companies — including Korea Telecom, Naver, and local headquarters of Citibank and HSBC — employing 29,783 people. It will become a more viable destination once linked to Gangnam, Seoul’s busiest subway station, having recorded a daily average of 125,810 passengers last year.

The first phase of the newly opened line contains six stations, with plans to extend northwest to Yongsan Station by 2018. A tunnel under the Han River has already been completed for the projected extension as of 2009, after 38 months of drilling.

The Sin Bundang Line is Seoul Metro’s first fully automated subway line. Also called the DX Line, it uses state-of-the-art communications-based train control (CBTC) to allow two-way communication between intelligent trains. This type of system, currently only in use in Beijing, Guangzhou, Sao Paulo, Paris, and Helsinki, is known as Driverless Train Operation (DTO), and while trains operate without a driver in the cabin, they will otherwise have attendants to take care of lower level tasks and assist passengers.

The new subway line is the latest achievement of the ever-growing Seoul Metro system, which earlier this year won two Metros Awards at the Metro Rail 2011, a global festival in Italy attended by railway experts, metro-related organizations, and major urban metro companies. Seoul Metro won awards for Best Metro Asia Pacific and Most Energy Efficient Metro.

In a recent survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to find the city’s greatest attractive features, Seoul Metro was one of the top choices. Convenient public transportation was the second choice for Seoul’s citizens, beaten only by the Han River. It was especially popular among non-Asian foreigners.

The second phase of the AREX line opened on December 29, 2010, linking Seoul Station with Incheon International Airport by a new express train that takes 43 minutes. Regular commuter stops also opened on the line at Hongik University and Digital Media City, with plans for a further stop in Gongdeok to open later this year.

December 2010 also saw the opening of the upgraded Gyeongchun Line on December 21, 2010, extending the system’s reach all the way to Chuncheon, Gangwon-do. A trip between the western terminus at Sangbong Station in Seoul and the eastern terminus at Chuncheon Station now takes only 89 minutes.

The expansion of metro lines into Seoul’s satellite cities leads to increases in the number of passengers as new markets of riders are unlocked. Last year, the number of people who used the metro system averaged over 4 million per day, almost a quarter of the metropolitan population. In terms of annual passengers, Seoul Metro is behind only Tokyo and Moscow’s metro systems, reaching about 1.48 billion for the entire year. As the population of Seoul and the surrounding area swells, the metro system continues to expand to cope with the strain, extending current lines and creating new ones.

One upcoming project is the Sin Ansan Line, which will connect the Gyeonggi-do cities of Ansan and Siheung with downtown Seoul. Planning of the line has led to heated disputes between Ansan and Siheung, as each vies for a route that would benefit each respective city. Construction is expected to begin in 2013 with the first section finished in 2019.

The EverLine Rapid Transit System is planned to connect Everland Resort in Yongin with the metro network via fully automated light-rail transit. Construction began in 2005, but the opening date is currently unknown due to legal difficulties and noise complaints.

Plans are also underway to extend existing lines. The Bundang Line will be extended 6.6 kilometers north to Wangsimni Station in June 2012 on one end and west to Suwon Station in the following year. Line 7 will continue west into Bucheon and Bupyeong, and Line 9 will continue further eastward through Olympic Park. Once construction of the Yongsan-Digital Media City section of the Gyeongui Line is completed in 2012, it will merge with the Jungang Line to form one very long metro line, offering direct service from Munsan in the northwest all the way down to Yongmun near Gangwon-do.

By Jon Dunbar
Korea.net Editor & Writer