The Fastest Growing Subway in the World? | Seoul Subway
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- Опубліковано 11 сер 2023
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I have to admit, I think there are very few cities with urban rail systems that can even come close to matching the scale and quality of Seoul's - and the network is rapidly expanding in size! Find out more in one of my biggest explainers yet!
Special thanks to @railpluskr , JR Urbane Network, Judung_i, Daryl DC, and Uros Novakovic for helping with this video!
Read the Line 9 article here: seungylee14.substack.com/p/he...
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Ever wondered why your city's transit just doesn't seem quite up to snuff? RMTransit is here to answer that, and help you open your eyes to all of the different public transportation systems around the world!
Reece (the RM in RMTransit) is an urbanist and public transport critic residing in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of helping the world become more connected through metros, trams, buses, high-speed trains, and all other transport modes.
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Special thanks to @railpluskr for some of the amazing footage used in this video!
Seoul's metro network is fascinating, and as always, you did an amazing job fitting it all in one video. Thank you for your tireless work showing us transit networks all around the world! Noticed you included brief bits about Seoul's airports as well. If you ever need any b-roll footage of airports, please do not hesitate to reach out. We've got plenty and have been to most of the biggest ones, and are always happy to help out.
All the best,
David
Thanks David! It was quite the production!
Lived in Seoul from 2015-2017 and the metro station was one of the things that convinced me just how much a well funded modern metro system could be to a city.
Literally sitting on the subway here in Seoul and saw this video get posted hahaha. As a Torontonian who lives in Korea now, I’m excited to finally watch your look into the metro here!!!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Wow hi torontonian i live in seoul Who will move to toronto next year. Glad meeting you
Lrt line 5 is delaying forever here in toronto
I currently work as a train driver in Korail driving 3 line and Gyeongui-Jungang line.
I am very surprised by how much precise and detailed this video is.
Super informative even for korean as there are too many subway lines in Seoul. I wanted to know the very details of Seoul metro and other lines too.
Very much appreciated for the video !
Cool job👍
파업좀 작작해라 그래 공익을 요구해도 사람들 눈돌아가서 욕먹더만
@@slavecoder9928 파업좀 작작하라 라고 무작정 이야기하지 마시고 왜 파업 하는지 이유부터 알아보고 오십쇼
I don't think you're train driver. Actually, I don't think you're a Korean. Your English is not that of a Korean who makes a living working as a train driver.
@@jinmo2821 tbf he could've used a translator or is just an english-fluent train operator
Korea's subway system is by far the best in the world in many ways, for example, price, convenience, accuracy, and transit.
We from the West have a lot to learn from the way Seoul and in general Korea build their metros!
The Seoul metropolitan area is too big. Residents near Seoul usually spend more than an hour on the subway every day. The subway is a great way to travel, but sometimes I think there should be more express trains.
@MonsterTokyo-kz5yp I meann... where I live, I spend about an hour on the train to commute in both directions, but city is like 10× smaller in population and 3× smaller in area compared to Seoul. Like from my perspective, Seoul metro has been great... plus it's not like everyone travels from Guri to Songdo every single day lol
@@Minehouse895that's why they are building the GTX
The cost effective construction is a game changer
It's more than the metro transportation itself, but the whole development approach. Suburban development is very dense and transit-focused, keeping everything interconnected and not compelling anyone to weigh affordability versus transit access.
I've lived in Japan and Korea for 2 years each and I can tell you Seoul subway is much better than Tokyo's subway. It's not even close. The Seoul metro is much better laid out and significantly more modern overall. Tokyo's subway feels very fragmented and is very confusing and some sections are very dated. Also, the Seoul metro is much cheaper to ride.
100% agree with you. Especially, the subway fare in Japan is very expensive with no transfer discount.
I think it was probably because Tokyo's railway/subway system is made up of many more networks/operators.
as a korean, once you get used to, i think tokyo's subway system is really good as well. You can practically go everywhere around the capital area. The thing is that japan's subway takes a lot of studying and experience for you to get used to.
@user-lc8yw4mk6l which is why korean subway is inherently better. prior 'studying and experience' isn't a criteria for good usability.
@@breakloop I think usability isn't the only criteria that determines which system is better or not. But, I'm also not here to judge which is better or not. I'm just saying that the quality of a system shouldn't be undermined just because it is difficult.
I lived in Ilsan(donggu) for one year and in Seoul proper (Hongdae area) for another, and one of the things I miss most is the transit system! The subway is incredible, as are the other forms of regional rail that you covered, but you really can’t get a full appreciation for how convenient life is in South Korea until you need to get somewhere relatively rural. There are endless buses and intercity stations, not to mention the KTX (high-speed rail). It truly puts North America to shame, and it’s hard not to feel drawn back to that corner of the globe. My favourite metro system that I’ve ever used, no question.
Yet most of their citizen are wanting to stay in north america😂
"It truly puts North America to shame . . ." So you just compared one of the most densely populated countries in the world about the size of a large US state such as Indiana to an entire continent. LOL
@@capmidnite Please, teach me more about geography cap I beg you
@@kevin_aldo누가 북미에 살고 싶다고???
대다수의 한국인들은 대중교통 엉망이고 치안도 안좋고 물가도 비싸고 편의시설도 안좋고
어디 한번 갈려면 차타고 한참 걸리는 미국이나 캐나다에 공짜로 살라고 해도 안산다
When I was visiting Seoul in 2017, what impressed me more than the extensive network (I'm French, so am used to fairly good networks) was ultimately how easy the system was to use and navigate.
First - the T-money card made everything a breeze - get card at the airport, deposit cash on it, you're done, just flash it when entering the subway. And you can use it at the grocery shops. It's 2023, and I still struggle to buy tickets for the Paris metro when I go there.
Also - the subway app was so helpful. Enter your destination, not only it would give you a route, but perhaps more importantly, it would give you the exit # you wanted once at the station...and if that exit was toward the front or the rear of the train. And there's plenty, plenty of signs everywhere anyway. Again, Paris pales in comparison for clarity (like, a lot) even to this day.
In Korea people from other cities complain about Seoul metro tho....it's less efficient than the ones in Daegu etc but also line number 1 in Seoul is notorious for crazy people (mostly harmless but crazy nonetheless- it's nicknamed Hell's rail )
@@mheekkim2901 why? Many arrogant people?
@@kevin_aldo no just crazy people
@@mheekkim2901 아니 한국지하철에 미친사람이 뭐가 많아???
말도 안되는 소리를 하고있네 혹시 중국 공산당 댓글부대냐???
@@kevin_aldo imagine the crazy people on the NYC subway, but dialed down a bit.
I've used Seoul's metro and it's a way easier and better system than London's tube underground most European metros and even Singapore's metro. I can say this because I've experienced all of the ones I've mentioned. I went to Seoul when I was 19 on my first solo travel trip and It was way easier than my own city's metro. The language barrier wasnt even a problem because everything was written in English as well.
Fun fact : Except DX line and AREX, all lines are operated by Korail or Seuol Metro Crop or their subsidiary. However, even those lines, ownership of the line and stations are not in the hand of DX corp, but Korean Gov. They only have the rights to operate those lines in compensations of profit. None of rail lines are owned by private entity, unlike Japan, explaining very low fair compared to other developed country.
Yeah, people getting accustomed to low fares and debt accumulating every second of operation.. sounds pretty unsustainable to me
@@motionsynthesisThey literally said the operations are ran in compensation ... yes, people expecting low fares for pub transpo is a good thing
@@motionsynthesis Have you heard this payment that citizens make to the government in expectation of service from them? That aside, most of the loss are actually occurred from maintaining train service to remote areas outside of major cities like Seoul. Similarly to how every other nation including US (Who have significantly higher fare) does.
"서울시의 대중교통 요금인상 강행…시민공청회 묵살한 시장은 답하라": "서울시는 요금을 통한 원가회수율을 70~75% 수준으로 높여야 한다고 주장한다. 그러나 유럽에선 공공 재원이 대중교통 운영비의 50%를 부담하고 미국 뉴욕 등 주요 도시들은 70%까지 부담한다." - 한겨레
@@motionsynthesis cheaper than building and maintaining roads and far more sustainable financially too
I definitely think this subway should get much more attention given how much people it transports and the extremely modern architecture! This subway system is probably one of the few that can match Tokyo😎
@@Mr-pn2eh RMTransit has covered Zurich and Lausanne before
@@Mr-pn2eh And Moscow metro too ).
Absolutely, it's one of a kind even among other amazing Asian transit systems!
Its architecture is very lacking compared to the systems of other countries, especially the west's.
@@jaywye it was built mainly with mobility in mind, to bring people from point a to b.
Seoul metro is kinda underrated compared to Tokyo. I prefer Seoul because you don't need to go out from one operator to another operator.
Most of Seoul metro have a lot of exits, sometimes more than 10. When I was there sometimes I kinda use the metro's walkway as a shortcut to go to another place. Some of them are integrated with malls or even have their own mall.
T-Money is quite convenient and if you use different types of public transportation (bus to train or vice versa) you'll get a discount on the next one (dunno if it is still there). You can also use your smartphone (with NFC) as your T-Money, and they also sell T-Money in other forms like keychain IIRC.
and tmoney can be used in taxi's as well!
and tmoney can be used to buy something in a convenience store like as GS25.
I am a New Yorker who to live in Seoul and am so glad you finally made a video about this incredible system! Line 2 was an absolute joy to live above and transit here was just incredible, it is a highly underrated metro!!!!!!!
Knew this was going to be a monster video when it finally arrived, and I'm pleased to be right! As Reece says, even this half-hour video couldn't cover everything happening in Seoul's transit systems. It really is an incredible network, and I'm glad to see it finally covered on this channel!
Seoul has such an amazing transit system. It made getting around an absolute pleasure.
It really does, it’s just good for people not just transporting them
The basic concept of the pricing in Seoul public transportation system is that you pay based on the distance you moved, not on the kinds of transportation. You can pay by just one t money card no matter what you use bus, taxi, subway. You can transfer without extra charge.
For those who are curious about the name of the lines.
In most cases, the word Gyeong means Seoul.
The part of line 1
- Gyeongwon line 10:42
Seoul to Wonsan (in North korea)
- Gyeongin line 10:49
Seoul to Incheon
- Gyeongbu line 10:53
Seoul to Busan
-------------------------------------
Gyeongui-Jungang line 15:03
Gyeong = Seoul
Ui = Sinuiju (in North Korea)
(Jungang means center)
→ Seoul to Sinuiju and Jungang line
Suin-Bundang line 15:58
Suin = Suwon and Incheon
Bundang is the name of the new city.
→ Suwon to Incheon and Bundang line
Gyeongchun line 18:21
Gyeong = Seoul
Chun = Chuncheon
→ Seoul to Chuncheon
Gyeonggang line 19:19
Gyeong = Seoul
Gang = Gangneung
→ Seoul to Gangneung
SinBundang line 12:28
Sin = New
→ New-Bundang line
Seohae line 19:52
Seo = west
Hae = Sea
→ West sea
Ui-Sinseol line 21:57
Ui = Ui-dong
Sinseol = Sinseol-dong
→ Ui-dong to sinseol-dong
U-line
U = Uijeongbu
Yongin Everline
Ever = Name of an amusement park in Yongin(Everland)
I am a citizen of Seoul. This video is a magnificent explanation of my city's transit system. Thanks a lot. Good stuff.
Inspired by Japan 🇯🇵
@@erikjj235And what's noteworthy of it? I've never heard of Italy or UK pointing out that "European/American system is inspired by the Rome Empire/the Great Britain"
@@technocracy90 Japan built Korea's first railway system.
@@erikjj235 Imperial Japan built rail on Korean land to move war supplies during the occupation from 1910~1945. You cannot make an argument that it was built upon good intentions for the people of Korea.
Although it would serve well to Korea's economic boom throughout the country after the country gained independence, the system that Japan built was never for the Koreans to take advantage of, rather for the Imperial Japanese to use to exploit and control Korea as a Japanese colony.
This is one reason why sections of the Korail system run on the left rather than the right for all modern rail lines in Korea.
Also, you really can't make the argument that the modern Korean rail system is based on the Japanese system with it sharing features more in common with European rail systems than the Japanese system.
as someone who has traveled on a bunch of rail networks across europe/asia/australia seoul's will probably forever stay my favourite
Lived in Seoul, thie subway is just phenomenal. One of the high points of living in that city. Easy, safe, convenient, affordable. a far, faaaaaaar cry from what we have in the US.
I knew Seoul had a really great rail network but god damn, this has to be one of the best in the world
Oh no doubt 😅
Riding Seoul metro then taking one of the MARTA lanes feels like night and day.
I am very happy that you visited and made a video of the metro of my adopted home city. Seoul Metro is the gold standard IMHO (probably am biased because I use it every day). I have no need nor want of a car, I have a motorcycle but that's for fun. The Metro combined with extensive bus services, which is a whole other world worth looking into, pretty much guarantees door-to-door service anywhere in the Seoul Capitol Area. Most neighborhoods have multiple stations on different lines within a short walking distance from a person's work and home. Where I used to live near Yonsei University there are 5 stations on 3 lines within a 5 to 7-minute walk. Where I live now, I have 3 stations on 2 lines within 5 minute walk. It is just incredible, add to the extensiveness of the system with a unified payment T-Money card, strong Wi-Fi connectivity, easy (mostly indoor) transfers between stations and lines, shopping, food, and as mentioned restrooms in most stations, it really is a uniquely pleasant transit experience. It's weird that my 35-minute subway commute is the peaceful unwinding time between the craziness of work and the nuttiness of a house with kids, no other system has ever done that for me. Seriously check out the bus system if you haven't already. Thanks for another great video.
2 other amenities
- Fare integration is nationwide. Your metropass from Seoul will work on subway and buses in other major and medium cities and vice versa
- Many escalators and moving walkways have motion sensors. They only run when people are on them. This saves running costs on electricity and maintenance
Thank you for this very important point. This is in marked contrast to Britain, where I live. London has its famous oyster card, but IT IS ONLY VALID IN GREATER LONDON. Fares in the rest of Britain is total chaos. That chaos is a major disincentive to using public transport.
I visited Seoul in spring this year and was absolutely taken by the subway system! While I was confused at first even as a foreigner who was learning 한국어, it wasn't hard to navigate the platforms or buy tickets. One thing that really took me aback was the amount of exits each station had, with ones leading to each side of the street or even to a whole different block! It made it easier to really orient myself.
Thank you for doing a video on Seoul Metro! Lived there for 3 years and took the amazing train system everywhere. I feel like it always gets overshadowed by Tokyo for some reason, but is super impressive in its own right. The thing I loved was that they always had multiple line extensions / new lines in development all the time. Would be cool to see a video about Korean High Speed Rail (KTX) sometime!
KTX video is definitely coming...
But what about Manila Metro system? I need this video to understand more about Metro System in Manila.@@RMTransit
@@RMTransit I thought there was already a video on it before
Theres a lot to unpack here. Seoul really has a huge subway network and there are a few tidbits to add.
-The line 9 fiasco is really a recurring debate as passenger numbers are slowly creeping up. There clearly aren’t enough trains to keep up with demand and any extension to the line will only make it worse. There were talks of extending the line west into Gimpo but politics got in the way. The one saving grace is that platforms were built long enough to accommodate 8 car trains but there hasn’t been any motivation to invest in doing so and I fear in a couple of years we’ll be back to square 1. Also to cut costs some stations were built without passing loops and without double platforms which means services between local and express trains can’t be operated as efficiently. Currently the schedule mostly alternates between one local and one express.
-The Gimpo line was built as a light metro because the mayor was not able to get line 5 or 9 to be extended from Gimpo airport into his city. The metro runs 2 car trains which are severely overcapacity during peak hours leading to many people fainting. The line operates as a deficit so corners were cut, platforms could in theory be extended to accommodate 3 car trains but most stations only have single width escalators on one side of the platform. In face it has also been called the « Hell train » due to congestion during peak hours leading to staff being deployed to prevent people from going down the escalators and cramming even more on the undersized platforms. The idea to operate boats on the han river as a patchwork solution has been floated.
-Plans for a potential GTX-D line linking up to Incheon airport have been circulating recently and have been called « economically viable » so that might pop up in the future.
-An airport express line 2 has also been floated linking Incheon airport directly to Incheon.
-The most awaited section of the GTX is probably the new tunnel between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni as the current surface track is at capacity with ITX-Cheongchun, KTX, regional trains and Gyeonggi-Jungang line trains all run on the track. The Suin-Bundang line mostly terminates at Wangsimni instead of Cheongnyangni (except a few peak services) because of track capacity.
-The Shin-Bundang line is a mini problem of its own as it is partially privatised. Eventually it will be extended north from Sinsa to Yongsan to connect multiple business districts together. Different portions of the line are operated by different companies so transferring onto the line incurs a surcharge and going from one end of the line to the other can cost up to double a normal fare, almost triple if you transfer to another normal line.
-Many lines with. 4/6 car trains were built with growth in mind and almost all stations are prebuilt with growth to 8 car trains in mind.
These are just a few of the problems the network faces, many problems are due to politics and theres often bickering which leads to passengers paying the price at the end. Overall I love the Seoul network and I just wish more lines had express services because line 9 is absolutely great when it operates as planned.
OMFG Seoul transit is so big and plans to grow bigger as part of biz as usual… and even THEY cut corners? wow.
Line 9 isn't able to increase to 8-car trains because the latest eastern extension of the line was built with no support for 8 cars in order to cut costs
Your first point reminds me of, damn I can't remember the station I think its 약수역 (yaksu station? i never studied romanization). There is only 1 escalator each way, so they turn off the downwards one when a train arrives, but it's not like its reversible so you just have to walk up it like stairs.
What a great video! As someone who just spent the last 11 weeks working in Seoul, I think I learned something new just about every single minute. I hope you enjoyed your time in the city, I know I did and I cant wait to come back some day
Seoul is a very interesting case. It has excellent transit, but it also has extreme amount of urban highways and giant underground parking lots. Ultimate example of you can't combat car-dependency without reducing highways and parking lots.
It makes perfect sense as soon as you realize that public transits in Seoul actually complement, not compete with, other means of transport. Most metro lines in Seoul have analog bus routes, and most bus routes are retained even when new lines are built because any single of them can't keep up with the traffic anyway. The same thing goes for cars as well.
Unless your area is far away or badly connected you will almost never find yourself needing to take a bus (except in some hilly areas where walking is a death sentence). I only ever took the bus between Gangnam and Itaewon, everything else was nicely connected (taking the train would require 3 different lines)
It's a city of 13 million, and the metro area has 25 million. LIterally half of all of South Korea.
@@jamesdakrnSeoul has 9.4 m people
@@jonasrothmann1536 I disagree, some of the red buses are fantastic, I mean they do several stops around central area stopping by subway exits, then they get on a highway and don't stop for 20 minutes mostly at 40 mph +, then get off the highway and connect another part of the city. Comfy seat, air con, USB charging. If they happen to be going where you need to go, they are faster and more comfy than the metro, they feel like bus taxis!
Blue buses are perfect for short hops around the centre sometimes as well, those epic central island stops with 10 of them in a line, sometimes where you need to go has 3 or 4 of them heading that way, you wait for literally 2 minutes and one comes and they move too, it's not like London, creeping along at 8mph, so sometimes it saves going down all the escalators and back up for a 3 stop journey. My journey often consists of a mix of subway and bus.
Practically perfect video ^^ As someone who lived on and off around Seoul between 2010 and 2022, it was astounding to see the expansion of the system with both new lines and numerous line extensions in just over a decade. What's now the massive Suin-Bundang Line was simply the Bundang Line between Seolleung and Jukjeon when I moved there, with little extensions bit by bit over the years. Would've been nice to see a mention of the rainbow lights that used to be in the long mountain tunnel in the Shinbundang Line, or the old transfer jingle that everyone adored, but it probably wouldn't have fit the tone of the video. Look forward to an update when all the GTX lines are completed.
Awesome! You did an amazing job describing Seoul's subways and trains! Your video footage also brought back so many memories for me as well.
Been to Seoul before and while I only used the Metro a few times (traveled mostly by bus as it was a tourist package), I was personally really amazed at the accessibility and scope of the network and how seemingly connected it was to major tourist spots in Seoul. Very much an underrated and underappreciated system in the grand scope of things.
Reminds me of the time I was in the army and stationed in Korea, there was a dude who had to go from Camp Humphrys in Pyeongtaek to Camp Casey in Dongducheon and back to take a short class and get some gear. He could have taken a bus to Yongsan and transfer to another bus to get him to Casey (which is what he should have done its a base to base transit system basically) but people taking an intercity train and then transferring to the Metro was also common because it was faster even though we had to pay a little out of pocket. Not this dude though, he took line 1 from Pyeongtaek to Dongducheon and back cause he didn't want to transfer, took like 4 hours each way.
Living in Dobong-gu (northern Seoul), I avoided Line 1 when I could. I much preferred taking Line 4 into the city, even if it added 5 minutes to my commuting time. Just the fact that it was newer than Line 1 and the people more tolerable made it worth it.
THANK YOU for taking the time to learn the pronunciation of all these places. It really makes the video that much more enjoyable
The pronunciation is not particularly accurate for a lot of things, though - in particular Suseo, which is two syllables (su-seo to rhyme with the yeo in yeoman)
I've been waiting for this for ages!!
Finally! It’s here!
I saw the thumbnail and the title and clicked on thre video quickly, never have I been this excited about an RMTransit video.
I have been following RMtransit for about two years. Most of his video are excellent. This one is the best I have ever watched!
I Hope you enjoyed it!
Wow, now that's an incredible system!
I love the inspiration of hearing about these supersystems... At the same time, though, I'm keen to hear about smaller systems, ones that could be inspirational for smaller cities.
Done it right a big system is really just the amalgamation of a lot of small ones!
I lived in Seoul for ten years before moving back to Canada and to Toronto. Seoul was my first exposure to subway systems and the Seoul Metro is the system I'm the most familiar with, so you can imagine that it's hard for me to live in Toronto and not make unfavourable comparisons (despite the TTC being very good for North American standards) lol
Seoul Metro spoiled me.
ㅋㅋㅋ
Hey, I really enjoyed the style you covered the transit of the whole of seol in this video. A similar style on the whole of viennas transit, or the bits you didn't cover previously, would be fantastic
My comments have been answered. Thank you so much for making this!!!!!
I’ve been waiting for this one since your top ten metros video 😂. Great job!
Hope you enjoyed it!
A mind-boggling amount of information in this video for a system that keeps growing at a clip that makes even the ardent rail fan dizzy! I love it! We could only hope for half the enthusiasm for trains back home in Canada, amiright?
I've been to Seoul and used their transit. It was a really nice experience and I hope to go back soon.
Excited to ride the Hyundai Rotem trams here in Edmonton! Thanks for another great video Reece!
As a non-Seoul (and adjacent capital areas) citizen of Korea even I was shocked with how chock full of stations the great capital area is, and honestly jealous. There's a grand total of ONE suburban line outside of that area, and although around 5 are under construction or planning, transit equity between region emerged as a problem. 25:27 and yes you are exactly right because they are using hydrogen trams. (Woojin can also make them but most will be from Hyundai.) All planned modern tram lines are set to use hydrogen trains to "eliminate" overhead wires.
Thank you so much Reece! Wonderful video. As a Seoul resident and self-professed expert of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, I had been waiting for this video for so long, and was starting to get annoyed that Korea was the only big rail country in which you had no true dedicated video (I believe you removed previous GTX and KTX videos). So happy you finally got around to introduce our subway system to the world.
I just had a couple of comments, which I hope can prove helpful.
- Just for pronunciation, while you had overall a very good pronunciation, and I don't want to correct small things, but for the Gyeongui-Jungang Line, the first G is a hard G, as in Gate. And Suseo station is pronounced "Suso" (with an open "O" sound, and no "e" sound at all).
- The Sinansan Line under construction will also have a second branch to the South, running mostly parallel but a few kilometers more to the East of the line you drew. Also, on the line you drew, it was recently agreed to have the Sinansan Line service continue further South, with an extension of the service of 18km, using the tracks of the higher-speed rail section of the under construction Seohae Line.
- Line 7 also has another extension under construction, but to the West, in Incheon, continuing further to the West and then connecting with the AREX Line near the sea
- The GTX C Line will also have a second branch to the South, using the tracks of Line 4 between Geumjeong Station and Sangnoksu Station. This has only been recently approved and will have less frequent service than on the main branch.
- There is also one last line under construction which you didn't mention, and which is a full medium-capacity subway line: the Dongtan-Indeogwon Line, running for 37km roughly parallel to the Seoul Subway Line 1, but slightly to the East on its Southern Section near the cities of Hwaseong, Suwon, Anyang.
Also, for those who would be interested, there are many more lines planned, with some planned to start construction within the next year or so:
- Seobu Line, which would be the longest light metro line in Seoul, running North-South across the Han river and passing through Yeouido (construction start: 2023)
- Wirye-Sinsa Line, which would be another important light metro line, connecting Wirye (where the tram would be) with Sinsa (the current Northern terminus of the Shinbundang Line) (construction start: 2024)
- Other light metro lines in Seoul proper, in earlier phases of planning, including the Myeonmok Line (East), the Mokdong Line (South West), the Gangbukhoengdan Line (mostly North Seoul), as well as short additional branches of the existing Sillim and Ui LRT Lines
- As for some of the extensions of the existing lines, there are also some more projects which are in advanced planning phases: extension of Line 3 to the East (eventually connecting with Line 5), extension of Line 5 to the West (running close to the Gimpo Goldline), a potential extension to the Line 8 to the South up to Pangyo Station, and the already approved further extension to the East of Line 9 (eventually crossing the Han River, slightly to the East of the Line 8 extension that you mentioned). Extension of the Shinbundang Line has also been approved, to the South East (crossing with Line 1) and to the North (crossing the Han River to Yongsan Station, but project slightly delayed due to the Yongsan Garrison handover issue). The extension of Incheon Subway Line 2 to the North is also quite likely, as well as Incheon Subway Line 1 further into Songdo.
- There are many more projects, including tram-like projects in cities like Incheon, Songdo and Seongnam, but it's still unclear if they will be built. The most likely project to be built is probably the Daejang-Hongdae Line, a middle-capacity metro line just West of Seoul
- Finally, there are plans to build more GTX Lines. GTX D is already quite advanced, and would either be just a branch of the GTX B Line to the West going further North of the main GTX B Line to near Gimpo Airport, or would also continue further to the East, passing along the Seoul Subway Line 2 and crossing the entire city on a West-East axis South of the Han River. There are also plans for a GTX E and GTX F lines, but very early in their planning.
Hope this information could be useful for those interested about more of these long term plans for Seoul.
Yes, that's true, I hope all of these planned lines will push through, In Manila, I hope the rapid expansion of Metro Lines will begin.
You already hit on one of the most interesting things about Seoul in the very beginning of the video: probably one of the best public transport systems in the world while also having crazy amount of roads and cars using those roads. It's actually a quite jarring dichotomy when you are in the city. Probably also why it is so sprawling while still being crazy dense in some parts
Good video sir. Very fond memories of Seoul and trips into the mountains. My first visits were still subject to nightime curfews, same as Taiwan and Phillipines (Manila).
FINALLY
Ive waited forever for this.
I Hope it was worth the wait!
So much work must have gone in to this video! Thank you! I used to live in various places in and around Seoul and I’ve used pretty much every line. Line 9 is way too busy, Line 1 the strangest, and the ShinBundang is the future. I live in Busan now, which is not quite as big, so might make an easier video…
The Shinbundang line really did keep its sheen of newness for a few years, and it's nice they finally expanded. Look forward to expansion north of the Hangang too. Hope they finally increase the top speed though. And I kind of miss the rainbow lights in the mountain tunnel even thought it was kind of gimmicky.
Man, I did not expect this video to hit me so hard; the last time I got to use Seoul metro was over 10 years ago and the system has only expanded since then.
I dunno if you'd want to do a video on it but the city I live in of Wellington, New Zealand has some pretty decent public transport for a western (especially New Zealand) city. Full of extremely disconnected suburbs and only around 410,000 people in the entire region
Wow, you did a phenomenal job putting all these pieces of information together! Most Koreans wouldn't even know about most of these facts. Thank you for featuring my hometown!
A fascinating video! Nice job at explaining the essentials of the metropolitan area and the transport system so well in such a short amount of time.
Though, I just want to add a few things that haven't been mentioned in the video but could be important in further understanding the characteristics of the system.
1.
The whole metro system is extremely cheap, and I mean it. The minimum fare is 1250 KRW / 10km, which roughly translates to 1 USD / 10km. And after 10km, 100 KRW or 8 cents are added for every 5km. Using the system everyday we Koreans often forget how cheap it is, but oh it certainly is. From Sinchang (southern terminus of Line 1) to Chuncheon (eastern terminus of Gyeongchun Line) you can travel 214km with just 4950 KRW or about 4 dollars.
While alleviating burden for people commuting long distances on the system, it also brings some downsides, the largest being that almost all of the 22 metro lines are making loss. Especially the extremely low distance-proportional charge causes newly built metro extensions to appear unprofittable, forcing them to be built to lesser standards and lowering the quality of ride experience.
A good example of this is the northbound extention for the Seoul Metro Line 7. Expected to connect newly developed areas (housing a total of about 300 000 people) to the city centers, construction is about to begin. But this extension is designed to be a single-track line, with distance between passing sidings being up to 8.4km. This project is raising a lot of controversies around whether this could provide enough services to the areas without accidents or frequent delays.
2.
The plans for increasing the speed of A'REX services is already underway. This year there was a design showcase of the new trainsets, able to reach 150km/h. It's expected to take just 51 minutes (regular) / 39 minutes (express) to travel 63.8km. They are planned to be in regular service by 2030, so expect to see fancy new trains at the Incheon Int'l Airport by then!
3.
The Seoul metropolitan area houses about half of the country's population, and therefore transportation infrastructure is also very concentrated around the area. And this "well thought-out" metro system then attracts more people to the area, reducing the population of other cities and making their voices smaller, while also maxing out the capacity of the previous metro system again, creating requests for another line which could cost even more. This positive feedback loop of infrastructure - population growth is plaguing South Korea, creating a deepening conflict between residents of different cities.
Although the metro system itself is very well constructed and well maintained, I can't help but get the feeling that this is a result of short-sighted policies, only looking at the problems right in front and not knowing the loophole looming ahead. From a traffic engineering perspective, things seem to be moving in more or less the correct direction, but from an even higher perspective - development at a country scale, it is us Koreans' job to reconsider what is the best way to utilize the resources to not just provide better transit, but to improve the quality of every citizen's life.
Great video detailing all the lines and the complexity of the network! I am sure there were considerations for the length of the video but I would cover also the T-money card system and what you can do with it (to me it looked like a very very convenient "one card to rule them all" type system that I wished was implemented in more places and that for me at least, sets the system as a whole above the Tokyo one)
Fascinating! I've just spent 14 days in Seoul using many of the lines, including suburban train Chuncheon and ITX back to town, and the Ui LRT to the hills. I obviously need to get back there again in a couple of years to check on developments and use the rest of the network. ..
Nice content 👍
imagine one day doing a whole video on the entire transit network of the Pearl River Delta in China between Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Macau when more of it is completed in 2028. Including all the people movers, trams, urban metros, highspeed metros, intercity, national rail, and highspeed rail
I've been waiting for this one! I really wish I could have been a part of this. I've lived here since 2019 and I've loved every moment. As someone who studied transportation engineering in college, public transportation here in South Korea is absolutely fantastic. You did it justice! If you plan on doing a Korail or KTX/SRT video, I would love to contribute to it! I sometimes ride the SRT to soccer games around the country.
Yes, I will ride PNR-NSCR, soon, it is like GTX, and RER, while PNR-HSR will be like KTX crisscrossing across 3 island groups of our country.
as a foreigner, the best thing about the public transport in seoul is how much technology in integrated, navigating the city by smart phone is a ease, even information like what carriage to get into and what exit to use to be on the right side of the street are just perfect.
Really love your coverage of Seoul! All metro systems of large cities around the world are unique in their own way, but I think Seoul might be the only one where the line between underground/overground, urban/sub-urban systems gets really blurry.
Now for some remarks/corrections…
At the earlier minutes of the video, (ex. 7:00) we see Suin-Bundang line marked in blue. The line’s official color is, of course, yellow. (….Blue was kinda cursed imo)
At the same times, we see Seohae line not extended to Daegok, which should have been done (July 1. 2023)by the time this video was published, but maybe not during early production of this video.
Speaking of Seohae Line, the connection to Ilsan(26:04) is already complete, up and running as of the time I am making this comment. The section opened on August 26th, 2023.
Also speaking of the Seohae line, pretty much all the ‘eo’s in the names of the areas here in Korea are supposed to be pronounced as ‘uh’. So Suseo would be ‘Soo-suh’, Seoul would be ‘Suh-ool’, Incheon would be ‘In-Chuhn’, and Samseong would be ‘Sam-suhng’.
Speaking of Samseong, although the name is indeed a homophone of the name of the famous global corporation Samsung, it has ZERO relation to the company, other than the fact that WTC Seoul is in Samseong and Samsung likely has a few offices there.
Gimpo Airport, despite its name, is located virtually entirely within Seoul. Gimpo Goldline does indeed start from Gimpo Airport and runs through the City of Gimpo.
18:32 ITX-Cheongchun is NOT considered to be part of the Seoul Metro service, even though it runs along the very same line as the metro Gyeongchun line.
What counts as a ‘Seoul Metropolitan Subway Service’ is a rail service that is incorporated into the Metropolitan Unity Fare, which incorporates all the buses and metros of the metropolitan area into one fare system, and makes the user pay little to no extra fare when transferring between different lines, bus or subway. ITX-Cheongchun requires a separate fare and is not part of the Seoul Metro, while the Incheon Airport Maglev (22:55) is, because it is incorporated under the Metro Unity Fare system, even though it’s more of an attraction than a metro line.
25:17 Wirye line is technically speaking not actually, to quote, ‘Seoul’s first actual tram line.’ Seoul had an overground tram network traveling through its downtown (the area roughly between Seoul and Cheongryangri station) which first opened in May 20, 1899 and saw its ups and downs before closing on Nov. 30, 1961. Another single-line network operated from the 1930s to the 1960s around the same area. The Wirye line is still the first tram of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway network.
25:45 the Sinansan line’s main line travels through Ansan’s Jungang station to Hanyang Univ. ERICA campus. The line drawn in the video is the path the branch will take after splitting off at Gwangmyeong. Also, the Yeouido-Seoul station section of the line is not even being planned, let alone under construction like the rest of the line. It is still undergoing feasibility assessment by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and still has to go through another feasibility assessment by the Ministry of Economy and Finance before we can even start making concrete plans, get a company to construct the section, design, and then begin construction.
Hopefully I haven’t missed anything else!
Wow great info, but is there any app to know about the route and schedule?
@@kevin_aldo I'd recommend Kakao Metro, Naver Map, Kakao Map
@@kevin_aldo In Korea only, Naver Map or Kakao Map are more accurate than Google Maps.
I've been living in the capital area (Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon) for 4 years, 3 of those years have been in rural areas. A big thing which I know you couldn't touch given how much there is to say about all the subway/train lines is that even rural areas have regular bus connection to various subway/rail lines. I live on an island currently and there is still a direct bus every 20min into central Seoul as well as to regional rail. I do have a car now after 3 years because I work between islands with limited bus service though. Visiting home after 3 years and taking TTC really felt like a huge step backwords...
Also a nitpick, but 'seo' is pronounced 'suh'. So it's Suseo (soo-suh), same like Seoul (suh-ool). Other than that your pronunciation was pretty good!
10:04 the reason of only Seoul St~Cheongryangri St section uses DC 1500V in line 1: because lots of subway train belonging to Seoul Metro are brought in through this section. when diesel lomotive bring subway train to Seoul St(underground, line 1), then subway train that using only DC 1500V can drive itself. Dongmyo St(line 1) is connected to Sinseoldong St(line 2) through connecting line, and after using many connecting line, subway train can move to each correct line.
I rode the system when visiting Seoul in 1990. There were two lines (red and blue) plus the circular line (green) in operation at the time. Good to see that the system has been expanded. :)
I think there were actually 4 lines in operation at that time: line 1 (either red or navy; unified to navy since 2000), circular line 2 (green), line 3 (orange) and line 4 (blue). I can see how navy-blue and red-orange pairs may look similar though ;-)
Yes, Manila is like the Seoul metro network back in 1990s, by 2049, it will be further extended, and expanded to the point it reaches a network of many hundreds of kms of various metro lines.@@lifthras11r
But Seoul Subway System was very very late. Other major countries established Subway systems before WW2, but Korea established them in the 1970s. It's too late!!
Hello, from Seoul! I take line 1 from Anyang to Cheonan all the time. Hour ride, costs me 3 bucks. So good.
I’m jealous 😂
Could you do a video on Prague?
i miss seouls subway so much!!
i live right next to gangnam in gyodae station and i gotta say I can literally go anywhere in seoul with ease with the subway lines and i can even bike anywhere in seoul i love how close everything is here
The amazing thing is this is only the beginning
We have 10 more metro lines to be built or reinforced by 2025
Also we are launching the new express railway system called GTX
As a Seoul citizen, I satisfied about introducing our subway.
Clean and big stations, Screen doors, Free Wi-Fi, Cheap fare(except The red line named Shin-Bundang line), Free transfer(except red line also) between other subway lines or buses, and some more...
드디어 이 채널에 서울지하철이 올라왔어!!!!
Thanks for this epic episode! It was an info wallop! Two things.
1. How many other transit networks use live on-site level-crossing attendants?
2. How do you manage to suppress your enthusiasm for SkyTrain tech when reporting on transit networks?
In my first two weeks in Seoul, I travelled in almost every subway line Seoul :) I think it is also fairly easily to navigate if you know the basics.
In Seoul and Gyeonggui-do, there's only metro line that you must not rely on its time schedule. That is 'Gyeongui-Jungang' Line. This line shares rail(from Yongsan to Yangpyeong) with Korean National Train network connecting Gangwon-do and Gyeongsangbukdo(for example, Andong city). Metro is a lowest level in this railway, so it always yields way to trains that rarely stops. Yields again and again, train might delay minutes and passenger want to take this train when the train arrives to the (metro) station. And therefore the driver couldn't close its doors on time and delays get more and more.
Therefore, all trains have delays a lot(5 to 10 minutes) and passengers never believe their schedules.
love seoul metro, currently on line 2😎.
Thanks! Super informative video and makes me want to visit Korea again (soon, I hope!) 🚋
Thanks for watching, and for your support!
2 things, Reece I've been waiting patiently for a Seoul video, well done. 2nd, my mission now when I go to Seoul is just to ride the Skytrain there. How on earth did a Canada line train even make it there??
I visited Seoul many times and I can say with no doubt that its subway is really the best in the world. The system is growing so rapidly that none of the international resources has the exact number of stations and lines... Many youtubers don't even mention the system in the top of world's biggest and that's not fair.
Thanks a lot for such a detailed review. I am amazed how the person, who hasn't been to Korea recently, searched so reliable and up-to-date information
The scale is crazy. Every line you mention had wild length and so many stations.
RMTransit can you make a video about the RBS regional train system in Bern, Switzerland? They are also building a huge new underground station in the Bern Bahnhof.
You should do a video of the Santo Domingo subway system and the transportation in and around the capital city as well as the transportation options as a whole in the country of Dominican Republic
I think you missed the expansion of the shinbundang line to go to i think icheon or yongsan/shinyongsan station, but I used to live at both gangnam and sinnonhyeon station. Wow it feels weird to write the station names in English.
Also the pronounciation is pretty good except for the vowel pairs, its the same problem I have with french - they arent two distinct vowel sounds or even diphthongs, just the romanization of a single korean vowel - For example you said sam-se-ong, but its actually sam-seong, pronounced like samsung the brand (and spelled the same way - Korean companies always romanize weirdly, looking at you Hyundai).
Great video, many koreans dont even know about the GTX, and when a foreigner talks about it they are very surprised.
There should be numerous stories about the Seoul Subway and other urban rail systems nearby, like its legendary tune for interchange stations (they just changed it several months ago), though I don't have much to tell. Although I am not sure if the rivalry between Seoul and Pyongyang to be the first Korean city to have a subway is a fact or just an internet rumour.
Apart from that, the rolling stock of the Gimpo Goldline is very similar to that of the Jakarta LRT. But given the speed at which Jakarta is expanding its rail network, I doubt there will be a video explaining it before the 2030s.
Finally Seoul!!!
I'm biased but I'd love to know what you'd think of the Tehran metro. I personally love it and go everywhere with it. it has a huge promised stations and lines which makes it the biggest metro system in the middle east
would love to see a video on it
Nice vid
i travelled to seoul before , and the metro system was too chaotic for me to understand , and now i have the perfect video to understand it , thanks for all your videos !
I Hope it helps you understand the system!
Thank you thank you thank you 👏
hello Reese, just wanted to tell you this video was recently used in a Greek article! You're really becoming known worldwide
What Seoul and Delhi are doing with the construction of high-speed regional rail is truly genius, despite being such a simple concept on the surface. If you have the option to travel within your metropolitan region at 180 or even 200km/hr rather than driving in traffic going 120km/hr (and that’s assuming there’s no traffic jams to slow you down in a region with 25 million people), why would you ever choose to drive to across the city? This concept of high-speed regional rail is so time-competitive with driving that I can imagine extraordinary ride share for the areas covered by the networks. High-speed regional rail like the under-construction GTX is exactly what New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, and Mexico City need, considering how vast these metropolitan regions and their connected metro areas truly are and considering the severity of traffic in each of them. LA in particular needs something like the GTX with just how massive and car-dependent LA actually is. I hope this concept gets spread to huge cities all across the globe. It would dramatically put a dent in greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and would have huge financial impacts by massively speeding up travel in these mega cities. Great video as always Reece! You’ve got the best UA-cam channel about public transportation out there and I watch pretty much every video you release!
Great role model for public transport!
It appeared to me that many underground stations have been designed as air raid shelters, being some distance below the surface and with space to accommodate people adjacent to some underground walkways. This makes perfect sense given Seoul's close proximity to the border with North Korea. I visited in 2003 & 2009 and the rail system was impressive then, even more so now and into the future,
I have a question, were you ever planning to make a video about the miami metro system, it is small but it is the only rapid transit system in florida
Can you please talk about the Odense and Aarhus light rails?
You mentioned Songdo station on the korail line of Suin line running through Incheon as being named after Songdo, but your information is wrong. The Songdo station is near the original Songdo area which came before the new city, on a line built in 1937. The area, we now refer to as Songdo, is actually the new city, named after the older area.
Living in Seoul also taught me that you get a lot of exercise when transferring... Not many cross platform transfers here 😂
Also line 1 has a reputation for hauling some eccentric folk so there is always good people watching especially around guro station
Worth noting that "Olympic park" is actually separate from the Olympic sports complex too
Cross platform transfers in East Asian systems unlike west is very rare. Reason being that East Asian systems pretty much have zero interlining and platform sharing thus transfer stations have multiple platforms on multiple floors for each line that serves station so to transfer you have to go to a different floor which means long walk
The legendary Line 1
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 nah man I used to live in Taipei and the core of the transfer system has those gas transfers
Yes, that's true, Cross Platform transfers are also in the Philippines, when North Avenue station is opened, you can transfer directly from Line 3 to Line 1, but soon, Line 3 will take over the Line 1's north extension track.@@thomasgrabkowski8283
Line 1😂
Finally , please reese , a video about max bogl maglev proposal in dr
Finally!
A video talking about Pyongyang's public transit would be a very interesting addition. DPRK Explained did a really good overview.