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| Commuters wait for a train on the Gimpo Goldline at Gimpo International Airport Station, Thursday. Yonhap |
Governors convened but locals skeptical about city's 'mini-subway'
By Ko Dong-hwan
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| Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong talks during a strategic meeting on the overcrowded Gimpo Goldline at Gimpo International Airport, Friday. Yonhap |
The new train line connects Gimpo, west of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, to the capital's subway system via Gimpo International Airport Station. Its two-carriage trains have been derided as a "mini-subway." But the trains can't be extended, because the subway platforms weren't built to fit longer trains.
Servicing 10 stations across a 23.67-kilometer track between Yangchon Station and Gimpo International Airport Station, the subway line is now emerging as a hot-button problem in the country's public transit sector. Crowds grow beyond the maximum capacity every morning and evening rush hour, raising concerns over a possible crowd disaster.
On April 11, a female high school student and a woman in her 30s collapsed on the Goldline platform at Gimpo International Airport Station after showing symptoms of asphyxiation. A similar incident occurred inside a subway car last December. The incidents stirred memories of the Itaewon crowd disaster last October in which at least 158 people died.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Minister Hee-ryong held an emergency meeting over the issue on Saturday. The Seoul mayor is one of the major stakeholders of the problem because the Gimpo Goldline is a subsidiary of Seoul Metro, the operator of eight metro lines across the Korean capital run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
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| The Seoul and Gimpo city governments are considering the introduction of public amphibious transit buses on Han River to transport commuters between Gimpo and Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government |
The two politicians agreed that more buses should be mobilized between the two cities as an immediate plan to alleviate the crowding. Won asked Oh to designate more bus-only lanes in western Seoul so that buses can transport passengers to and from Gimpo without traffic congestion, to which the city mayor agreed. But that is not expected to happen until June 2024 as its on-site feasibility will have to be studied further.
Previously on Friday, the minister rode the Gimpo Goldline himself during the morning rush hour and said he was aware of the growing public concerns over the service, including the incidents on April 11. Hosting a strategic meeting at Gimpo International Airport on the same day, Won said the ministry will mobilize special buses between Gimpo and Seoul and is betting on the Seoul government's cooperation with bus-only lane designation.
Mayor Oh met Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo the same day to discuss the matter. They agreed to deploy crowd control workers in stations across the Gimpo Goldline, as well as extend Seoul Metro Line 5 further west to Geomdan New City in Gimpo.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it is considering deploying "amphibious buses" capable of carrying up to 40 people between Gimpo and metro stations near the Han River in Seoul, a proposal by Gimpo's mayor. Seoul said the plan is under development and a detailed action plan will be released "not too far from now."
Mayor Oh said Friday that the Gimpo Goldline crowd congestion "needs an immediate improvement" and his city will "deploy all possible measures to make the entire capital region ― Gyeonggi Province, Incheon and Seoul ― more convenient for daily commuters."
