The Hub of Sparkle!

After much delay, Seoul’s subway line 9 is up and running quite nicely. I took a couple rides earlier today, it’s first day of operation, and am pleased to report things are ready, working, and not-surprisingly on time – well, the subways themselves were on time, at least.

The stations themselves look fairly normal – marble, glass, and steel abound.

Line 9 starts in the western part of Seoul at Gaehwa, west of the Gimpo International Airport. After turning towards the Han River, the National Assembly building, and Yeouido, it turns east to fit neatly between lines 2 and 7, which also run west to east. Line 9 currently terminates in Sinnonhyeon (near Gangnam station), but there are plans for a Phase 2 and Phase 3, set to be completed over the next several years along with other subway expansion projects.

The main benefit to line 9 will be its time-saving nature. While few of the new subway stops are noteworthy as of yet, an express train on line 9 can shuttle a person from Gimpo International Airport to the Gangnam area in about 30 minutes thanks to a more direct route.

A sign on one of the screen doors. Like some subways in other parts of the country, the platform is longer than the train is. It’s nice that it’s scalable, but if you miss a train because you didn’t see the sign you’ll feel kind of silly.

At the Sinnonhyeon station (the eastern terminus for line 9) offered different platforms for the regular and rapid trains; everywhere else, the two types of trains would stop at each platform.

The train’s schedule is remarkably simple: a regular train roughly every 10 minutes, plus an express train every 20 minutes at the stations it stops at (Sinnonhyeon > Express Bus Terminal > Dongjak > Noryangjin > Yeouido > Dangsan > Yeomchang > Gayang > Gimpo International Airport). That the schedule is posted several times along the platform is a nice touch.

Now inside the train, looking up just above the door at a screen that cycled through announcements in Korean and English, ads, and a map of the exits at the upcoming subway station. Not pictured is the gray-and-yellow color scheme seemed appropriately boring, albeit in a somewhat cheerful sort of way. Just like the Gyeongui line’s subway cars, there are no overhead compartments to stash stuff. Instead, one of the small benches near the end of a car is now used for packages, strollers, etc.

Also not pictured – but somewhat noteworthy – is the amount of advertising. While not overly pervasive, I did notice it in a few more places than other subway lines, along with corporate plugs (the logo of a Baskin Robbins right by exit 3, and the like). Since this is the first privately-run subway line, I’d venture a guess that ad revenue will be more highly sought.

Your Korean vocabulary for the day – you’re welcome.

You’re also seeing an element of branding the ‘Metro 9′ name – something a bit different from the rest of the subway system. Even though different companies share the revenue and upkeep of the nine lines, their efforts to ‘brand’ themselves doesn’t exactly result in anything different. You’re going to take the most efficient route (or the fewest transfer route, if there’s a difference) to your destination, regardless of which line(s) you may take. Being distinctive in this case, I suspect, is more likely to cause confusion than approval.

Some nice maps that help in getting around – sort of. The satellite picture is an interesting idea; unfortuately few of us subway goers see things from such a top-down way. It is kind of nice to find the building you live in and go ‘I can see my house from the subway!’ (think Sarah Palin and you’ll get it – hopefully).

In all seriousness, the maps are up to date, entirely in English, and typically helpful. The satellite image might not resemble some areas of Seoul unless the images change to keep up with the growth of the city.

The new, electronic style of lockers – hit one button on the touch-screen monitor and shut-down the computer… Not sure whether to assign the epic FAIL tag or just chalk it up to it’s first day of operation…

A grand-opening game of sorts – move the rod through the maze and receive a cell phone dangly – and not surprisingly, people waited in line for a little dangly for their cell phone…

Line 9 is a welcome state-of-the-art system that integrates well while being distinctive. That it makes trips shorter or easier to get to is nice – and the main reason that I’m happy to see it finally arrive.

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