Commuters pack a platform at Seoul Station in central Seoul, Thursday, after a subway train broke down and halted operations on line No. 1 for nearly five hours during morning rush hour. / Korea Times photo by Kim Joo-sung
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Korail hit for breakdown of subway cars during morning rush hour
By Lee Hyo-sik, Yi Whan-woo
A Seoul subway train broke down early Thursday morning when temperatures fell to minus 17 degrees Celsius, creating chaos for hundreds of thousands of commuters in and around the capital.
The subsequent derailment of the troubled train added to commuters’ woes, forcing them to scramble for alternative means of transport. Many of them lodged protests against the subway operator as they shivered amid the lowest temperature in 55 years, and were late for work.
According to Seoul Metro and Korail, a line No. 1 subway train bound for Cheongnyangni Station in northeastern Seoul from Cheonan Station in South Chungcheong Province came to a sudden stop at Seoul Station at 7:22 a.m. due to a mechanical failure.
It stopped for 40 minutes, forcing follow-up trains to be delayed. As a result, thousands of passengers were stuck inside the cars for nearly an hour.
Seoul Metro has overall control of subway lines Nos. 1-4, but both it and Korail operate subway cars. The troubled train was operated and maintained by the latter.
At 8:08 a.m., the operation of subway line No.1 resumed as another train pushed the malfunctioning one forward. However, the train derailed 30 minutes later at Jongno 5-ga Station on its way to a base station in northern Seoul, paralyzing subway operations again.
No passengers sustained injuries due to the incident but subway services between Hoegi and Yongsan stations were suspended for hours, causing a great deal of inconvenience to commuters living north of the Han River.
“Following the derailment, we immediately mobilized a group of mechanics to fix the problem. Around 11:50 a.m., they put the derailed subway cars back onto the rails,” a Korail official said. “The troubled train was then on its way to the base station. As of noon, all subway operations on line No. 1 returned to normal.”
He said the initial breakdown was likely caused by an electrical malfunction due to the cold weather. “We are doing everything we can to find out exactly what caused the breakdown. We will take all possible measures to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Breakdown comes with fare rise
In a separate incident, another train came to a sudden halt at Guro Station also on line No. 1, due to faulty power lines, suspending both north and south bound trains. But trains began operating normally two hours later after the completion of repair work.
However, tens of thousands of commuters suffered a great deal of inconvenience during the morning rush hour as a result of the breakdowns. Some waited for hours while enduring the record-low temperature. Others looked for alternative means of transport, such as buses and taxis.
The majority of passengers on line No. 1 were late for work Thursday.
“I was trapped in an extremely crowded subway car for almost an hour. The train operators just told us to wait little bit. It was like my worst nightmare turned into reality,” a 37-year-old salaried worker said at Jongno 3-ga station. “I was late for work by at least an hour. I heard Seoul City plans to raise fares by 150 won. But who wants to pay more for a subway ride like this.”
At Jongno 3-ga station, Seoul Metro employees were busy informing passengers of the suspension of subway operations. But it seemed that users paid little attention. They put up notices on the walls, columns and everywhere they could to let subway users know the measures being taken by the operator.
Several employees shouted, “We regret there will be no train services between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station.”
“What is all this about?” a middle-aged man shouted at one of the employees. “You people were supposed to make an announcement when I entered the station,” he said.
This is not the first time for line No. 1 subway trains to stop operating in winter. On Jan. 16, 2011, a train bound for Uijeongbu Station broke down at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Station in northern Seoul.
A year earlier, another train also stopped at the same station, due to engine failure.
Korail said line No. 1 trains that operate on rails built above ground are more prone to a range of failures in winter due to weather conditions, compared with those operating underground.
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