How Can We Avoid Rush Hours?

Rush hour is an annoying thing when you use transportation systems, especially in Seoul. According to the Korean Broadcast (KBS), the average congestion in Seoul Metropolitan Subway was 158 percent in 2013. The figure for line 9 was 238 percent, which is more than the maximum capacity, followed by 202 percent for line 2 and 172 percent for line 7. So, what should we do to avoid this terrible situation?

1. Avoid the morning, the evening, and late night.

It's obvious, but it's the surest way. Based on Line 2, trains have the most people between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. To avoid these hours, use the subway as late in the morning or early afternoon.

2. Take something else

Seoul has a well-organized transportation system. There are buses and taxies typically, but I'm not going to write those because these are well-known to people. There is a good way if you have a Korean friend. Like Uber, there is a car-sharing service in Seoul, too. It is called Tada. Tada's most used service, the Tada Basic, runs on an 11-seat RV vehicle. Using mobile phone applications, you can call your car like a taxi and get off to where you want (only support the entire area of Seoul, parts of Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province). There is no risk of overcharging like a taxi, and when the service is finished, it is automatically paid with the card registered in the application. But, you need a Korean card to use this service.

The Oldest Subway Station in Seoul

Subways have been running in Seoul's underground since 1974. Then, where is the oldest subway station? The answer is on line 1. In the 1970s, after trams disappeared in Seoul and it demanded a new transportation system. In Seoul, where urbanization processing, there was no space for additional transportation on the ground. In this situation, the subway was the best method to solve the problem. Despite the huge budget, the Seoul subway project was first carried out in central Seoul. Therefore, the first subway in Seoul started to travel between Seoul Station and Jegi-dong Station. (except for the National Railroad linked to the subway).

Is Line 1 safe?

As Line 1 is the oldest route in Seoul, it has many problems. Representatively, there are old trains. They have poor facilities, such as in-train screens. However, since Seoul Metro frequently checks trains and discards old ones, there is few possiblity that trains will go wrong.