Severe Snowfall in Seoul Area... Extended Peak Dispatch Hours for Subway and City Buses During Commute

On the 12th, when heavy snow fell mainly in Seoul, the metropolitan area, and the west coast, citizens were bustling on the streets of Sinchon, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As heavy snow falls again in the Seoul area, Seoul City will extend the concentrated public transportation dispatch hours during the evening rush hour on the 12th and the morning rush hour on the 13th for citizens using public transportation.

The city announced that on the 12th, at 3:40 PM, a heavy snow advisory was issued for the Seoul area, and it immediately entered snow removal emergency work level 2. Around 3:33 PM, disaster alert messages related to the snowfall were sent to citizens for guidance, and access to Bukaksan-gil was restricted from 4 PM.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's Seoul observation station, 4 cm of snow has fallen so far. The city deployed about 8,000 personnel and 1,078 snow removal vehicles and equipment to spread de-icing agents across Seoul for the first time around 3 PM, and additional spreading is continuing by region.

The city also expects traffic congestion due to the heavy snow and a large number of citizens using public transportation, so it decided to extend the concentrated public transportation dispatch hours during the evening rush hour on the 12th and the morning rush hour on the following day.

For the subway, to alleviate congestion and minimize inconvenience, the concentrated dispatch hours during the evening rush hour will be extended by 2 hours from the existing 6 PM?8 PM to 10 PM, and on the 13th, the morning rush hour will be extended by 30 minutes from 7 AM?9 AM to 9:30 AM. Accordingly, the subway will operate 56 additional trips during the evening rush hour on the 12th and 36 additional trips during the morning rush hour on the 13th.

City buses will also operate with minimum dispatch intervals during all routes’ rush hours extended by 30 minutes, increasing the number of trips by route (347 routes), and the nighttime service reduction due to COVID-19 will be temporarily lifted. Therefore, the concentrated bus dispatch hours will be extended to 7 AM?9:30 AM during the morning rush hour and 6 PM?8:30 PM during the evening rush hour.

The city also explained that special inspections of subway trains and outdoor exposed facilities are continuously conducted to ensure normal subway operation during the heavy snow situation, and monitoring of vulnerable spots is being strengthened while on emergency duty.

Han Je-hyun, Director General of Safety at Seoul City, urged, "Since the snow continues to fall and is expected to persist until the evening rush hour causing traffic congestion, citizens are asked to use public transportation as much as possible when leaving work."

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