Ten Urban Railway Operators Including Seoul Metro Establish Emergency Response Cooperation System for Transfer Stations

Establishing an Organic Cooperation System Among Operators

Seoul Metro announced that ten metropolitan and urban railway operators in the Seoul metropolitan area have established an emergency response cooperation system for transfer stations, which will be jointly implemented starting July 14.

Seoul Subway. Photo by Jo Yongjun.

The ten participating organizations include Seoul Metro, Korea Railroad Corporation, Incheon Transit Corporation, Namyangju Urban Corporation, Guri Urban Corporation, Airport Railroad, Shinbundang Line (Neotrans Co., Ltd.), Sillim Line (Rotem SRS Co., Ltd.), Ui-Sinseol Light Rail Co., Ltd., and Gimpo Goldline SRS Co., Ltd.

Amid growing necessity for organic cooperation among operators due to a series of subway safety incidents such as the recent Line 5 Banghwa incident and the Sindorim Station derailment, there had previously been no formalized inter-station cooperation system, making effective collaboration difficult in exceptional situations.

Under the newly established cooperation system, the ten organizations have agreed to share information during station emergencies to ensure passenger safety and enable rapid initial response, control passenger inflow through transfer corridors, and actively cooperate with requests for personnel and safety equipment support from counterpart transfer stations.

In addition, the operators will be required to form mandatory safety councils at transfer stations and regularly conduct joint emergency response drills and share safety knowledge. Adjacent stations will also implement this cooperation system in accordance with additional agreements by each operator.

Ma Haekeun, Head of the Operations Division at Seoul Metro, stated, "With growing public anxiety due to recent subway safety incidents, the ten operators have joined forces to establish a cooperation system for efficient response in the event of an accident. We will continue to strengthen the subway safety network to alleviate citizens' concerns and ensure their safety."