Opening of Bus-Only Lanes... Will Gimpo Gold Line Escape the 'Hell Train'?

Opening of Gaehwa-Gimpo Airport Section on the 26th... Expected Congestion Improvement
Acceleration of Subway Line 5 Extension Discussions

The bus-only lane to improve congestion on the Gimpo Urban Railway (Gimpo Gold Line), known as the "Hell Train," will open on the 26th. Discussions to resolve transportation issues are gaining momentum, including inter-local government consultations on the long-awaited extension project of Seoul Subway Line 5 in the Gimpo area.

Seoul City announced that it will open the bus-only lane from Gaehwa to Gimpo Airport starting at 7 a.m. on the 26th, in response to requests from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), the Metropolitan Transportation Committee (MTC), and Gimpo City.

Passengers are attempting to board at Gochon Station on the Gimpo Gold Line. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The opened section covers 2 km from the intersection at the southern end of Hangjudaegyo Bridge on Gaehwa-dong Road to the intersection at the entrance of Gimpo Airport. The operating hours are from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. during weekday rush hours, and it will not operate on Saturdays and public holidays.

Seoul City widened the lanes from two to three on the section entering Seoul to secure continuity of the bus-only lane and improve vehicle flow. Additionally, a right-turn lane toward Olympic-daero was installed.

Last month, MOLIT Minister Won Hee-ryong requested Seoul City at the "Emergency Measures Meeting to Alleviate Congestion on the Gimpo Gold Line" to immediately designate the Gaehwa to Gimpo Airport section as a bus-only lane. At that time, Minister Won noted that while the section from Gochon to Gaehwa under Gimpo City's jurisdiction was designated as a bus-only lane, the Gaehwa to Gimpo Airport section under Seoul City's jurisdiction was not.

In response, Seoul City announced the "Traffic Operation Improvement Measures" at the end of last month and decided to promptly install the bus-only lane in the section by the end of May. Seoul City explained that typically, installing a curbside bus-only lane takes at least six months, but this was completed and opened in just over a month. Yoon Jong-jang, Director of Urban Transportation, said, "We put all our efforts into preparing measures due to the urgency of alleviating congestion on the Gimpo Gold Line."

However, there are limitations as general vehicles inevitably enter and exit the bus-only lane due to nearby highway interchanges, underpasses, and intersections. Also, since one lane is used as a bus-only lane during rush hours, inconvenience may occur for private car users. Director Yoon stated, "We plan to prepare improvement measures if problems arise through continuous monitoring after the bus-only lane opens."

Meanwhile, discussions on the extension project of Seoul Subway Line 5, which connects Gimpo and Seoul, are also accelerating. On the 21st, Gimpo City and Incheon City, which had conflicts over the Line 5 extension route, signed a business agreement to expedite the "Seoul Subway Line 5 Gimpo and Geomdan Extension Project."

Until now, Gimpo City and Seo-gu District of Incheon had been unable to speed up the project due to differences in views on the relocation of the construction waste disposal site in Banghwa-dong, Seoul (a prerequisite for the Line 5 extension project), and the route plan.

The core content of this agreement is to faithfully implement the route plan reflecting the MTC's adjustment proposal and to locate the construction waste disposal site "outside the influence area of Seo-gu, Incheon." The MTC plans to form a working-level consultative body soon to prepare the route plan.

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