[Photo] Lee Jeong-hoon, Gangdong-gu Mayor, On-site Inspection of the First Commute After the Opening of Gangil Station on Subway Line 5

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) announced that after conducting an on-site inspection during the morning rush hour at Gangil Station on Line 5, which began operation on March 27, it plans to make efforts in various ways to improve congestion on Line 5, including increasing the number of trains and adjusting the operation ratio.

Until now, residents of Gangil-dong, such as those in Godeok R&Park Complexes 2-3 and Gangil River Park Complexes 8-11, had no nearby subway station and had to take a bus to Sangil-dong Station, adding an extra 5 to 10 minutes of travel time. However, with the opening of Gangil Station, they can now use the subway by walking or with a short transfer.

However, Line 5 operates separately from Gangdong Station towards Hanam Geomdansan and Machon directions, so most sections in Gangdong-gu, including Gildong, Myeongil-dong, Godeok-dong, Sangil-dong, and Gangil-dong, only operate half of the total number of trains, effectively making it a half-line.

Additionally, around the large residential complexes in Sangil-dong and Gangil-dong, passenger usage has increased since the reconstruction complexes began moving in seriously in 2018. With the full opening of the Line 5 extension (Hanam Line), congestion has worsened, leading to continuous demands for increased trains and shorter intervals between trains.

In particular, with the substantial completion of the Godeok reconstruction complex (15,769 households), the completion of Godeok Gangil Districts 1-3 (12,107 households), and the Gangdong General Industrial Complex (16,000 workers), the demand within Gangdong-gu alone is expected to more than double compared to 2011 before the reconstruction projects, making active train increases necessary.

Accordingly, regardless of current demand, the operation ratio between the Hanam Geomdansan section and the Machon section, which currently run on a one-to-one basis, will be adjusted proportionally to actual demand, and additional trains will be requested continuously to Seoul City, Seoul Metro, and related agencies.

Furthermore, the district is actively negotiating with Seoul City to add a bus stop near the exit of Gangil Station for residents' transfer convenience and to establish new bus routes passing through Godeok Gangil District 3, Gangil District, and Gangil Station.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “While the opening of Gangil Station has made subway use more convenient, congestion during the busy morning commute is expected to cause inconvenience to residents. We will do our best to improve residents' transportation convenience.”

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