It is surprising how many elderly people ride the subway and the financial burden it is putting on the Seoul subway system:
The free subway fare for senior citizens, which was introduced in 1984, is one of the rare perks only seniors can enjoy in this aging society. It helps reduce rates of suicide and depression, as well as medical fees by keeping senior citizens active, according to the Korea Transport Institution’s research in 2015.
Korea Times
However, transporting elderly riders for free doesn’t give only advantages.
It has recently emerged as a headache for heads of big city governments, especially Seoul where most of the nation’s population is concentrated, as the deficits of Seoul Metro are snowballing to a dangerous new level.
“Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul Metro has faced a deficit of 1 trillion won ($ 8.1 billion) annually, and the seniors’ free rides account for 30 percent of the deficit. Before COVID-19 it took 60 percent,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on Facebook, Tuesday. “In the meantime, Seoul Metro has endured by issuing corporate bonds, but now it has reached its upper limit. If it was a private company, it would have already gone bankrupt.”
You can read more at the link, but the Seoul government wants the national government to kick in money to support the subway system to prevent prices from going up even further.
This woman lost her mind on the subway and is now going to jail for it:
A Seoul court sentenced a 26-year-old woman to one year in prison Wednesday for smashing an elderly man on the head repeatedly with her mobile phone after a viral video showing the violent scene enraged many.
The incident happened in March in a subway train on Line No. 9 when the two got into a fight after the victim in his 60s chided her for spitting on the subway car. The woman was seen in the video shouting and beating the man on the head with her phone repeatedly.
The violence caused him to bleed in the head.
As the woman subsequently stood trial on charges of inflicting injuries and insults, additional violence charges were added for allegedly hitting a passenger and pouring a beverage over the passenger’s head in a subway train in October.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This is another example of how workers got used to something and don’t want to go back to the way things were before the pandemic:
Unionized workers of Seoul Metro are strongly protesting against the city government’s plan to resume late-night subway operations, a measure proposed to tackle the worsening nighttime taxi shortage in the capital.
Yonhap
The union that represents workers of a part of Seoul’s subway system which runs lines 1 to 8, held a rally in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Government office, Tuesday, demanding the local government withdraw its plan to extend operating hours.
“Late-night operations were suspended not only because of the coronavirus pandemic but also due to worsening operating losses, which nearly pushed the operator into bankruptcy. It is difficult to understand why the government has abruptly announced resumption of late-night operations, without any measures to resolve these issues,” the union said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the metropolitan government said it will extend subway operating hours on weekdays until 1 a.m., thereby increasing operations by one hour from the current midnight closing time, starting at some point in June.
You can read more at the link.
Fortunately no one was hurt in this derailment:
A subway train derailed near Yeongdeungpo Station in southwestern Seoul on Tuesday, delaying and partially disrupting services on line No. 1.
Korea Times
No casualties have been reported. The accident took place around 6:28 a.m., halting traffic on both ways of the express lines for line No. 1, according to subway operators.
Regular trains on line No. 1 are in operation, but delays have been reported.
Around 100 passengers who were on the derailed train walked to the nearby Singil Station, also on line No. 1, to transfer to a regular train.
You can read more at the link.
Here is some information to keep in mind when traveling on public transit in Seoul:
Seoul’s subway Line 2 is the most sexual crime-prone public area with 2,069 cases over the past five years. Among stations, Express Bus Terminal on Line 3 topped the list with 56 cases in the January-July period.
Rep. Han Sun-gyo of the main opposition Liberty Party of Korea revealed the figures on Sunday, citing National Police Agency data.
Subway Line 9 was the second most prone with 1,479 cases since 2015, followed by Line 1 (848 cases), Line 4 (756 cases), Line 3 (407 cases), Line 5 (288 cases), Line 6 (163 cases) and Line 8 (41 cases).
Noryangjin Station was the second most sexual crime-prone subway station (24 cases since July) after the Express Bus Terminal. Third was Yeouido (23 cases), followed by Sadang (21 cases), Seoul Station (20 cases), Gangnam (19 cases), Dongjak (18 cases) and Sindorim (17 cases).
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
