Extra buses offer little respite for Gimpo commuters

The Gyeonggi provincial government and Gimpo's city government on Monday added 16 more buses during rush hour between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to take pressure off the notoriously overcrowded Gimpo Gold Line.

People stand at a bus stop near Geolpo Bukbyeon Station in Gimpo to get on a bus on Monday morning. [JANG SEO-YUN]

Only a handful of Gimpo residents on Monday hopped on the extra buses added to alleviate overcrowding on the Gimpo Gold Line subway.

“I decided to take the bus today after hearing about the new bus routes,” 52-year-old Kim Sook-yeon said.

“I normally do not take buses because it takes twice as long for me to get to work.”

The Gyeonggi provincial government and Gimpo's city government on Monday added 16 more buses during rush hour between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to take pressure off the notoriously overcrowded Gimpo Gold Line.

These buses travel from Gimpo's Geolpo Maru Park to Gimpo International Airport, bypassing some bus stops for shorter travel times.

On April 24, local authorities added eight more buses as a temporary measure after two people passed out while taking a subway on Gimpo Gold Line during rush hour last month. At least 18 accidents on Gimpo Gold Line have been reported this year.

The bus departed at 7:33 a.m. from Geolpo Maru Park carrying six passengers.

It moved quickly until it neared Gaehwa Station, a station in western Seoul where people can transfer to Line No. 9 subway trains.

Seventy-three-year-old Shin Joo-yeong, who took the bus on Monday to get to work in Mok-dong in western Seoul, complained about the traffic jams he always experiences when getting to work.

“If I take the subway, it only takes about five minutes from Gochon Station to Gimpo International Airport, but by bus, it takes over 20 minutes,” Shin said.

The bus took 12 minutes from Geolpo Bukbyeon Station to Gochon Station, but took as long as 20 minutes to Gimpo International AIrport Station from Gochon Station. When taking the Gimpo Gold Line subway, it only takes around 10 and six minutes, respectively.

The bus arrived at Gimpo International Airport Station at 8:05 a.m. It took another 10 minutes to get to the Line No. 9 subway platform, totaling 42 minutes of travel time.

Passengers hold onto the wall, barely able to stand, on a Gimpo Gold Line subway train on Monday morning. [YUN JEONG-MIN]

The Gimpo Gold Line on Monday was still packed with people getting to work despite the increased number of buses. At 7:36 a.m., the subway train was nearly full, with space left for only about 10 people to board. But nearly 50 passengers squeezed themselves into the car, eager to get into the train so that they could arrive at work on time. People were barely standing, holding onto the wall with their fingers.

They started to scream, with some even shouting, “Hold on, let me take out my foot,” as more people got onto the train at each stop.

It was 7:54 a.m. when the reporter arrived at the platform for Gimpo International Airport, Line No. 9, which took around 20 minutes less than by bus.

Despite authorities' efforts to resolve the matter, many say increasing the number of buses will not necessarily resolve the overcrowding issue.

“Subway trains are fast, but I had to let about seven trains cars pass since there were so many people,” 27-year-old Kim So-jeong said.

“It is a problem that the trains were designed with only two cars each. It should be increased to at least four cars.”

Passengers get out of the Gimpo Gold Line subway train at 9 a.m. Monday. [JANG SEO-YUN]

The Gimpo city government has been blamed for failing to predict the crowding problem when it specifically designed the line's stations for only two train cars.

Another issue is the absence of bus lanes on the Olympic Highway from Gimpo to Seoul.

“Even as they add more buses to the line, most of the journey into Seoul is on the Olympic Highway, where there are no bus lanes,” said Yu Jin-sil, an office worker who takes the Gimpo Gold Line subway to get to work.

“Even if you get on a bus, you’re probably going to be sitting in traffic for one or two hours depending on where you want to go in Seoul.”

Gimpo city and Seoul metropolitan governments promised to add bus lanes between Gaehwa Station and Gimpo International Airport by this month.

“The travel time by bus will be reduced by ten minutes if bus lanes and roads are expanded,” an official from the Gimpo city government said.

BY JANG SEO-YUN, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]