Subway Line 5 Gangdong Station, Line 6 Saejeol and Bonghwasan Stations, and 4 Additional E/L Facilities Secured

Seoul Metro Completes Elevator Installation at 4 Stations Including Line 5 Gangdong, Line 6 Saejeol and Bonghwasan, Line 7 Gwangmyeongsageori... Overcomes Challenges Like Narrow Platforms and Train Operation Facilities... With 4 Additional Stations, Elevator Coverage Reaches 95.2% Across Lines 1-8, Aiming for Full Coverage by 2024

Elevator at Gangdong Station on Line 5

Seoul Metro announced on the 29th that it has completed the installation of internal elevators at Gangdong Station on Line 5 and Gwangmyeongsageori Station on Line 7, and will begin operation in early January 2024 at Saejeol Station and Bonghwasan Station on Line 6.

All four stations had secured elevator routes between the concourse and the outside, but the platform widths were narrow and various train operation-related facilities were densely packed.

Additionally, due to interference with major structural supports of the stations, elevator installation had been difficult until now.

During the construction process, additional obstacles in various fields (electrical, communication, signaling, fire safety, mechanical) were identified, and the lack of budget and space for relocating these obstacles caused difficulties in project progress.

This refers to the route that allows transportation-vulnerable individuals to move from outside to the platform using an elevator without assistance from others.

Despite the challenging conditions, the company devised solutions and proceeded with the construction. Although the completion was at risk of being delayed by more than seven months compared to the original schedule, they explored various approaches such as applying innovative new construction methods and parallel execution of complex processes.

As a result, by shortening the construction period by about six months, the elevator installation and opening at the four stations including Gangdong Station were completed.

With this, out of 275 stations on Seoul Subway Lines 1 to 8, 262 stations (95.2%) have secured one elevator route per station. The 13 stations without secured routes are currently under construction.

Stations without secured routes: ② Sinseol-dong, ⑤ Macheon, ⑤ Jongno 3-ga, ⑤ Sangil-dong, ⑤ Kkachisan, ⑥ Sangwolgok, ⑥ Gusan, ⑥ Daehung, ⑦ Suraksan, ⑦ Cheongdam, ⑦ Namguro, ⑦ Express Bus Terminal, ⑧ Bokjeong

Kim Seong-ryeol, Head of Technology at Seoul Metro, stated, “The elevator installation at the four stations including Gangdong Station on Line 5 is monumental as these locations had long been difficult to equip with elevators due to narrow widths and interference with major structural members. Since one elevator route per station is an important mobility right for transportation-vulnerable individuals, we will do our best to secure the remaining 13 stations by 2024.”