Seoul’s solution to “hell train” is to remove the seats

A view of the missing seats on Seoul Subway Line 4. Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The Seoul Metro will remove some seats from subway lines 4 and 7 to reduce congestion during rush hour. The idea is to improve the crowded environment by securing the space occupied by seats. Experts advised that a sensitive approach was necessary so as not to create a more uncomfortable passenger experience.

On November 1, the Seoul Metro announced that it would remove some of the regular seats on subway lines 4 and 7 that run during rush hour next January. Since the cars closest to the exit stairs in major interchange stations are the most crowded, they will remove seats in the two cars in those locations, the Seoul Metro explained. They will retain the seats for the elderly at both ends of the cars.

However, some worried that it would only worsen the overcrowded situation. “Even if they empty the space, it will only be filled with that many more people, so the congestion will be the same,” one person criticized on social media. The Seoul Metro believes that removing the seats will not encourage more passengers to board. According to its own analysis, it will ease congestion in each car by up to 40 percent. “During rush hour, passengers tend to board the subway at a certain location and at a certain time, so if new space is created while these conditions remain the same, congestion can be reduced,” said a representative of the Seoul Metro.

“In 2005, we installed folding chairs, but abandoned the idea after people got injured and the chairs broke,” said the official explaining why this time, they decided to remove the chairs completely from two cars. “Even city buses are removing seats near the doors and replacing them with padded linings along the inner wall of the bus,” said Baek Ho, president of the Seoul Metro, adding, “We’re not trying to carry more passengers, but trying to reduce congestion.”

Experts point out that in the end, it will be important to make sure that removing the seats does not lead to a more uncomfortable passenger experience. Kim Jin-yoo, a professor of urban transportation at Kyonggi University said, “It can be dangerous if people are packed up to the walls, and it might not be a good alternative because you will have to push through more people to get off.” Min Jae-hong, director of planning and coordination at the Korea Railroad Research Institute said, “It (the effectiveness of the policy) is predicated on the condition that there will be no passengers who will have to let a train pass because they can’t get on at platforms during rush hour.” He also said, “It seems like they are trying everything they can since congestion is so serious, but they will have to choose the time slot carefully to implement it.”

The Seoul Metro also plans to introduce additional trains in the long term. They plan to introduce three trains (30 cars) on Line 4 and one train (8 cars) on Line 7. They will conduct pilot operations of the seatless cars and measure effectiveness. “We are making various efforts to reduce congestion, such as increasing the number of trips during rush hours and deploying congestion safety assistants,” said Baek.