Over 2,000 subway passengers injured in Seoul over 5 years

Sadang Station on Line No. 2 saw highest number of passenger injuries

Subway passengers walk between the turnstile gates at City Hall Station in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

More than 2,000 passengers were injured while using the subway in Seoul over the last five years. By subway line, Line No. 2 recorded the highest number of injured passengers.

According to data released by Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 2,485 passengers were involved in safety accidents while aboard subway Lines No. 1 to 9 from 2019 to August this year.

By year, 671 passengers were recorded to have been injured on Seoul’s subways in 2019, 457 in 2020, 482 in 2021 and 584 in 2022. This year, 291 passengers were recorded to have been injured as of August.

While the number of injured passengers decreased between 2020 and 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, the numbers began to increase again in 2022 as the measures were eased. It was also reported that Seoul Metro had paid a total of 2 billion won ($1.5 million) for medical treatments with an average of 875,000 won spent per accident.

By subway line, Line No. 2 accounted for a total of 603 injured passengers, making up 24.3 percent of the total number of passengers who were injured over the last five years. The highest number of passengers were injured in the Line No. 2 area of Sadang Station, with 64 recorded injured passengers. This was followed by 49 in the Line No. 4 area of Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, 39 in both the Line No. 2 area of Sindorim Station and the Line No. 9 area of Dangsan Station, 31 in the Line No. 3 area of Chungmuro Station and 33 in the Line No. 2 area of Guro Digital Complex Station.

Over the last five years, the primary cause of accidents was due to passengers being stuck between subway doors, affecting 747 passengers. This was followed by 604 who were injured inside subway stations, 564 injured inside subway cars, 320 injured due to platform gaps and 213 injured when using elevator facilities.

“Seoul’s subway lines are a representative transportation system used by 2.4 billion people annually,” said Rep. Hwang. “It is necessary to take proactive and comprehensive measures to prevent safety accidents from happening in the future.”

By Lee Jung-joo(lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com)