Introduction of 'Chairless Cars' on Subway Line 7
Pilot Operation from the 16th... Priority Seats for the Disabled Maintained
Following Seoul Subway Line 4, a chairless car will also be introduced on Line 7. Starting from the 16th, one train car will operate without seats during rush hours.
On the 15th, Seoul Metro announced that to alleviate congestion during rush hours, it will pilot a chairless car on one train car of Seoul Subway Line 7 by removing the seats. After congestion on Line 4 reached 166.2% in the fourth quarter of last year, the metro has been operating one car per train without seats to reduce this, and now plans to expand this to Line 7.
For Line 7, trains passing through Children’s Grand Park Station around 8 a.m. on weekdays are the most crowded. Trains running around this time will operate without seats. The metro stated that on each Line 7 train, one car (the fourth or fifth car) will have its seven seats removed, but the 12 seats reserved for the elderly and other transportation-vulnerable passengers will be maintained as usual.
To ensure convenience and safety for passengers, additional facilities such as handrails, grab bars, and backrests have been installed in the 'chairless car.' Furthermore, announcements and door stickers will provide related information to minimize passenger inconvenience. Reflecting feedback from Line 4 passengers who used chairless cars, a design (wrapping) has been added to the interior walls of Line 7 trains. This was in response to Line 4 passengers feeling that the space seemed somewhat empty without seats. The design features scenes under the theme of 'Enjoying a Seoul trip on Line 7.'
To prevent safety accidents during the initial operation, staff will board Line 7 trains to monitor safety, and after verifying the effectiveness of congestion improvement through pilot operation monitoring, the metro will consider expanding the program to other lines. The pilot operation on Line 4, which began last January, coincided with school vacation periods, making it difficult to accurately verify congestion improvement effects.
Early in the morning, Subway Line 7 is running over Cheongdam Bridge. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@
Ahn Chang-gyu, head of the Vehicle Headquarters at Seoul Metro, said, "The pilot operation of removing seats on Line 7 cars is a short-term measure to improve congestion. We will make various efforts, including increasing the number of trains, to enable citizens to use the subway more conveniently and safely."
The maximum congestion rates for one car on subway Lines 4 and 7 (as of the third quarter of 2023) are 193.4% and 164.2%, respectively. Congestion rate is a figure indicating how many people are on a train, calculated by dividing the actual number of passengers by the seating capacity. Congestion levels are classified as comfortable (below 80%), normal (80?130%), caution (130?150%), and crowded (above 150%). The metro expects that through the pilot project of removing seats, the maximum congestion rates for one car on Lines 4 and 7 will decrease to 153.4% and 130.1%, respectively.
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