[NATIONAL] Overcrowding on Gimpo Goldline metro causes concern

Governors but locals skeptical about city’s ‘mini-subway’
Convening an emergency meeting, but the ‘Little Train’ meeting remains

By Ko Dong-hwan

The Gimpo Goldline ― an automated, unmanned metro service opened in 2019 ― has become unable to handle demand, leading to dangerous overcrowding in train stations.
Gimpo Gold Line, an automated unmanned subway service that opened in 2019, could not meet the traffic demand, leading to dangerous overcrowding of trains.

The new train line connects Gimpo, west of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, to the capital’s subway system via Gimpo International Airport Station. Its two-carriage trains have been derided as a “mini-subway.” But the trains can’t be extended, because the subway platforms weren’t built to fit longer trains.
This new line connects the subway system in the metropolitan area from Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do, west of Seoul, through Gimpo Airport Station. The two-car trains on the line have been ridiculed as “little trains.” However, it is impossible to increase the number of trains because the subway platforms were built to accommodate two-car trains.

Servicing 10 stations across a 23.67-kilometer track between Yangchon Station and Gimpo International Airport Station, the subway line is now emerging as a hot-button problem in the country’s public transit sector. Crowds grow beyond the maximum capacity every morning and evening rush hour, raising concerns over a possible crowd disaster.
The Gimpo Gold Line, which runs 10 stations in a 23.67 km section from Yangchon Station to Gimpo Airport Station, has now emerged as a hot issue in public transportation in Korea. Concerns about a stampede accident are raised as more passengers exceed the maximum capacity at every morning and evening commute.

On April 11, a female high school student and a woman in her 30s collapsed on the Goldline platform at Gimpo International Airport Station after showing symptoms of asphyxiation. A similar incident occurred inside a subway car last December. The incidents stirred memories of the Itaewon crowd disaster last October in which at least 158 people died.
On the 11th, a high school girl in her teens and a woman in her 30s collapsed due to breathing difficulties at the gold line platform at Gimpo Airport Station. A similar incident occurred on the Gimpo Gold Line train in December of last year. These incidents brought back memories of the Itaewon massacre that left at least 158 ​​people dead in October.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Minister Hee-ryong held an emergency meeting over the issue on Saturday. The Seoul mayor is one of the major stakeholders of the problem because the Gimpo Goldline is a subsidiary of Seoul Metro, the operator of eight metro lines across the Korean capital run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong convened an emergency meeting on the 24th. Gimpo Gold Line is a subsidiary of Seoul Transportation Corporation, which operates eight subway lines in the metropolitan area managed by the city of Seoul, and the mayor of Seoul is one of the major stakeholders in the matter.

The two politicians agreed that more buses should be mobilized between the two cities as an immediate plan to alleviate the crowding. Won asked Oh to designate more bus-only lanes in western Seoul so that buses can transport passengers to and from Gimpo without traffic congestion, to which the city mayor agreed. But that is not expected to happen until June 2024 as its on-site feasibility will have to be studied further.
The two politicians agreed that as a short-term measure to ease congestion, the number of buses between Gimpo and Seoul should be increased. Minister Won asked Mayor Oh to increase the designation of exclusive bus lanes in western Seoul so that buses can transport passengers to and from Gimpo without traffic jams, and he agreed. However, it is not expected to be implemented until June 2024, as additional field feasibility studies are required.

KEY WORDS
■ skeptical skeptical
■ overcrowding
■ hot-button hot issue[주제]
■ beyond
■ rush hour
■ collapse (usually unconscious)
■ asphyxiation suffocation, fainting
■ run operation[관리]do
■ feasibility

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