Korail Surpasses 30 Billion Cumulative Subway Passengers... 46 Years Since Opening

Infographic of Cumulative Ridership of Metropolitan Rail (Provided by KORAIL)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chunhee] The number of passengers using metropolitan railways has surpassed 30 billion. It has been 46 years since the first operation of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 began in 1974.

KORAIL (Korea Railroad Corporation) announced on the 10th that the cumulative number of passengers using the metropolitan railways operated by the company exceeded 30 billion on that day.

It has been 46 years since the opening of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 on August 15, 1974. The average daily number of metropolitan railway passengers, which was 78,000 at the time of opening, has now increased about 42 times to 3.26 million. The cumulative number of passengers reached 10 billion in 1999, 20 billion in 2011, 12 years later, and has now surpassed 30 billion again after 9 years.

Currently, the metropolitan railway lines operated by KORAIL include a total of 14 lines: Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 (Gyeongbu, Gyeongin, Gyeongwon, Janghang Lines), Line 3 (Ilsan Line), Line 4 (Gwacheon, Ansan Lines), Bundang Line, Gyeongui-Jungang Line, Gyeongchun Line, Suin Line, Gyeonggang Line, and Donghae Line. Among these, Line 1 is an ultra-long line exceeding 200 km in length, which is rare worldwide.

Over 46 years, the number of metropolitan railway stations increased about ninefold from 29 to 263. The operating distance increased about 8.4 times from 74 km to 625 km. The number of daily operations also increased 11.8 times from 215 to 2,539. If all the distances traveled so far are added up, it would be equivalent to circling the Earth 50,370 times.

KORAIL plans to celebrate the milestone of 30 billion metropolitan railway passengers by giving charging coupons to 300 users of the 'Mobile Rail Plus' transportation card through a lottery. In addition, various events will be held, such as giving Rail Plus transportation cards to those who post congratulatory messages with hashtags on their personal social networking services (SNS).

Cho Daesik, head of KORAIL's Metropolitan Railway Headquarters, said, "We deeply thank the public who have used metropolitan railways so far," and added, "We will do our best to provide safer and more comfortable train services."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.