Seoul subway to scrap extra fees for bathroom break, platform change

All subway stations in Seoul will stop charging extra for passengers re-using the subway within a 10-minute timeframe, starting July 1...

A sign for bathroom at Jonggak Station in Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

All subway stations in Seoul will stop charging extra for passengers re-using the subway within a 10-minute timeframe, starting July 1.

The measure will be applied across all subway stations on lines Nos. 2, 5, 8, and 9, the city government of Seoul said on Wednesday.

On line No. 1, the same rule will apply for stations from Seoul to Cheongnyangni; on line No. 3, from Jichuk to Ogeum; on line No. 4, from Jinjeop to Namtaeyreong; on line No. 6, from Eungam to Bonghwasan; and on line No. 7, from Jangam to Onsu.

The Seoul city government said the new policy was designed so that passengers who have to exit the platforms for a bathroom break or have to exit and re-enter a platform after mistakenly paying for a train headed in the wrong direction, can do so without an extra fare.

Of all of the subway stations in Seoul, 82 percent have bathrooms located outside the platforms, and 70 percent have stations where passengers need to exit the platform to get on trains headed in the opposite direction, according to the city government.

Last year, the city government received 514 cases of complaints from passengers who did not want to pay again to enter the platform after they only exited it for a short while for a bathroom break or to get to trains on the opposite platform.

The discount will only apply when passengers are paying with their credit cards or pre-paid transportation cards.

BY NA UN-CHAE, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]