Gimpo Gold Line Overcrowding... Seoul City Promotes Measures Including Deployment of 'Cutting Man'

Published 14 Apr.2023 18:20(KST)

Oh Se-hoon and Won Hee-ryong to Meet on the 15th to Discuss Measures

Seoul City is implementing special measures to improve the overcrowding on the Gimpo Urban Railway (Gimpo Gold Line). On the morning of the 11th, two passengers using the Gimpo Gold Line complained of breathing difficulties and collapsed.

Following the government's emergency meeting on the 14th titled 'Gimpo Gold Line Congestion Relief Emergency Measures Meeting,' Seoul City also announced measures to enhance citizen transportation convenience and safety. The Gimpo Gold Line is operated under contract by Gimpo Gold Line Operations, a subsidiary of Seoul Metro.

On the 14th, at Pungmu Station on the Gimpo Gold Line in Gyeonggi, where passengers crowd during rush hour earning it the notorious nickname "Hell Train," citizens are using the train amid ongoing issues such as patients experiencing breathing difficulties. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Seoul City plans to quickly deploy Seoul Metro's own personnel, such as so-called 'cutting men' who restrict boarding during peak hours, at Gimpo Gold Line stations. These personnel will also be responsible for tasks such as separating movement paths within stations and guiding transfer areas.

The number of cutting men, the stations where they will be deployed, and their platform locations will be decided later, considering the manpower of the corporation and the congestion levels of the stations.

Seoul City is also pushing to add more buses as an alternative means to disperse Gimpo Gold Line passengers. The alternative route bus for the Gimpo Gold Line, No. 3000 (Ganghwa Terminal?Sinchon Station), will be increased by 7 trips, and No. M6117 (Yangkok Terminal?Seoul Station) by 2 trips. Additionally, a shuttle bus between Hangang New Town and Gimpo Airport Station will be operated in consultation with relevant agencies. To ensure buses arrive on time, a bus-only lane will be promptly installed on the Gihwa Station?Gimpo Airport section.

The introduction of a new transportation mode proposed by Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-su, an amphibious bus with a capacity of over 40 passengers, is also under consideration. The amphibious bus would depart from Gimpo, travel via the Han River to the Hangang Park pier, and then use roads from Hangang Park to nearby subway stations, operating without transfers.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said in a media interview that "I have instructed the working departments to solve metropolitan transportation with the mindset that Gyeonggi residents and Incheon citizens who commute to and work in Seoul are also Seoul citizens." He added, "Under this policy direction of Seoul City, we will promptly implement various measures such as extending Line 5, establishing bus-only lanes, and increasing bus services."

It is also known that Mayor Oh and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong agreed to meet on the 15th to discuss measures to improve congestion on the Gimpo Gold Line. Minister Won posted on his Facebook, "I just called Mayor Oh Se-hoon. We agreed to meet soon."

Mayor Oh and Minister Won also engaged in a verbal dispute on the 13th and 14th over the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's non-provision of actual housing transaction information and the designation of bus-only lanes on the section entering Seoul City from Gimpo City.