Incheon Subway Line 2 Congestion to Be Reduced... Additional Trains to Be Completed by the End of Next Year

Weekday Passenger Count Doubles from 100,000 to 200,000 at Opening... Congestion Peaks at 159%

Incheon Subway Line 2 Train [Photo by Incheon Transit Corporation]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The number of passengers using Incheon Subway Line 2 has doubled over three years since its opening, prompting plans to increase the number of trains to reduce congestion.

Incheon Transit Corporation announced on the 26th that it plans to invest 46 billion KRW to add 6 train sets with 12 cars to Line 2 by the second half of next year and expand two storage tracks.

Since establishing a dedicated team for the train expansion project in 2018, the corporation completed contracts for train purchases and train control systems including electrical, signaling, and communication by the end of last year. Design and manufacturing are underway in each field, and some communication equipment has already been delivered. As of last month, the project progress rate for the Line 2 expansion stands at 68.8%.

Upon completion of the expansion, the number of trains on Incheon Line 2 will increase from 37 train sets with 74 cars to 43 train sets with 86 cars, and the interval between trains will be reduced from the current 3 minutes 22 seconds to 3 minutes.

The number of trips will also increase from 460 to 468 on weekdays, reducing passenger congestion inside the trains to about 144%, which is expected to improve the current situation.

Weekday ridership on Incheon Subway Line 2 was about 100,000 at its opening in July 2016 but has steadily increased to 180,000?200,000 by December last year. Consequently, train congestion has risen to a maximum of 159%, leading to increased complaints about discomfort during rush hours.

Jung Heeyoon, president of Incheon Transit Corporation, stated, "We will thoroughly manage the remaining processes such as train preliminary running tests, main line trial runs, and comprehensive test operations to complete the Line 2 train expansion project by the end of next year."

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