Seoul Subway Line 9

Line 9
Overview
Native name	9호선（九號線） Gu Hoseon
Type	Rapid transit
System	Seoul Metropolitan Subway
Status	Operational
Termini	Gaehwa Sports Complex
Stations	30
Operation
Opened	July 24, 2009
Operator(s)	Metro 9 Corporation, Seoul Metro
Technical
Line length	31.7 km (19.7 mi)[1]
Number of tracks	2
Route map Legend Gaehwa 901 Line 5, AREX Gimpo Airport 902 Airport Market 903 Sinbanghwa 904 AREX Magongnaru 905 Yangcheonhyanggyo 906 Gayang 907 Jeungmi 908 Deungchon 909 Yeomchang 910 Sinmokdong 911 Anyangcheon Seonyudo 912 Line 2 Dangsan 913 National Assembly 914 Line 5 Yeouido 915 Saetgang 916 Line 1 Noryangjin 917 Nodeul 918 Heukseok 919 Line 4 Dongjak 920 Gubanpo 921 Sinbanpo 922 Line 3, 7 Express Bus Terminal 923 Sapyeong 924 Sinbundang Sinnonhyeon 925 Eonju 926 Bundang Seonjeongneung 927 Samseong Jungang 928 Bongeunsa 929 Tancheon Line 2 Sports Complex 930 Samjeonsageori 931 Samjeon 932 Line 8 Seokchon 933 Bangisageori 934 Sinbangi 935 Line 5 Olympic Park 936 Oryun 937 Veterans Hospital 938

Seoul Subway Line 9, operated by Seoul Metro Line9 Corporation, is a subway line in Seoul. Originally scheduled to open on June 12, 2009, the line actually opened on July 24, 2009 to ensure that the line was fully ready to begin service.^[2] Line 9 was constructed like a standard double track subway, but the tracks are quadrupled at some stations to enable express trains to bypass local trains. Express trains run five times per hour in each direction. All stations except Gaehwa are equipped with elevators, escalators, and platform screen doors.

Phase 1 (Gaewha~Sinnonhyeon) was the first privately run subway line in Korea, operated by a joint venture of Hyundai Rotem and Veolia Transport, a French company.^[3] Phase 2 (Sinnonhyeon~Sports Complex) is operated by Seoul Metro.

History

Line 9 runs east from Gaehwa Station (local train terminal), and Gimpo Airport Station (express train terminal) (connecting to Line 5 and Airport Railroad) along the south bank of the Han River towards Sinnonhyeon in Gangnam. Construction of Phase 1 between Gaehwa and Sinnonhyeon began in April 2002, and completed on July 24, 2009. Major transfer stations on the first phase are Dangsan (Line 2), Yeouido (Line 5), Noryangjin (Line 1), Dongjak (Line 4), and Express Bus Terminal (Lines 3 and 7) Stations.

Operation started with 24 trains of four cars each, numbered 9-01~9-24. The express train came every 20 minutes and the local train every 6.7 minutes. Due to the number of riders exceeding 250,000 per day, 12 additional four-car trains numbered 9-25~9-36 were ordered^[4] and entered service on October 15, 2011. This allowed for the express train headway to be shortened to 10 minutes and the all-stop train headway to 5 minutes. From 30 September 2013, additional express trains were added during commuting times of 7 to 9 AM (from 22 to 36).^[5]

Phase 2 extended the line from Sinnonhyeon in Gangnam to Sports Complex Station on Line 2 on March 28, 2015. Phase 3 will further extend the line to Veterans Hospital Station in eastern Seoul and will be completed in 2018.^[6]

The Korean government initially proposed a one-seat ride from Incheon International Airport to Gangnam via Gimpo International Airport using either Line 9 or Airport Railroad trains sharing their rights of way by the year 2020.^[6] This proposal so far has not been implemented thus making it necessary to transfer trains at Gimpo International Airport.

Construction costs and deficit

The construction of Phase 1 cost 900 billion won (roughly equivalent to 827 million US dollars^[7]), 480 billion of which was pooled between 12 firms with the remaining borne by Seoul city and the national government. The line is currently operating at a loss with 90% of losses being covered by the city.^[8] The accumulated deficit has passed 180 billion won.^[9]

While Phase 2 was always planned to go ahead as scheduled, a Seoul Metropolitan Government website at one point described construction of Phase 3 as being suspended in consideration of transport demand and financial considerations.^[10] On November 20, 2008, however, the Seoul Metropolitan government announced plans to indeed build Phase 3 between October 2010 and December 2015.^[11]

Ticket price debate

Negotiations in 2005 between the operator and the Seoul city government resulted in an agreement of a basic fare rate set at 1,264 won upon opening of the line in 2009 with a further increase to 1,398 won by 2012 to allow for inflation. Prior to opening of the line, the operator requested a base rate of 1,300 won. The city government decided against this citing the domestic financial crisis and potential complaints from riders if the price was set at a higher rate than the rest of the subway system. The city therefore set the initial ticket fare at 900 won, the standard fare for entrance to the rest of the Seoul subway system in 2009. The rate was locked for a period of 12 months and was later locked for three years despite multiple requests from the operator for a higher starting fare. ^[12]

In February 2012, the price increased to 1,050 won across all metro lines, including Line 9. Within two months the operator of Line 9 announced the price would further increase another 500 won starting from June 16, 2012 but only on Line 9. The Seoul city government disagreed with this and threatened to fine the operator 10 million won per day if the 500 won price increase went through.^[9][13][14]

The planned rate increase was withdrawn on May 9 with the operator of Line 9 issuing an apology. Seoul City will be in negotiations again with the help of legal counsel to determine the differences of opinions in the original agreement.^[15]

Despite needing an additional scan of a metro card transfers in between Line 9 and other Seoul subway lines does not accrue additional fees.^[16]

Stations

●: express line stop
|: express line bypass
+: bypass tracks present

Station Number	Station name			Express service	Transfer	Station distance	Total distance	Location
	Romanized	Hangul	Hanja			in km
901	Gaehwa	개화	開花	No service		0.0	0.0	Seoul	Gangseo-gu
902	Gimpo International Airport	김포공항	金浦空港	●		3.6	3.6
903	Airport Market	공항시장	空港市場	|			0.8			4.4
904	Sinbanghwa	신방화	新傍花	|		0.8	5.2
905	Magongnaru	마곡나루	麻谷나루	|+	(future)	0.9	6.1
906	Yangcheon Hyanggyo	양천향교	陽川鄕校	|		1.4	7.5
907	Gayang	가양	加陽	●+		1.3	8.8
908	Jeungmi	증미	曾米	|			0.7			9.5
909	Deungchon	등촌	登村	|			1.0			10.5
910	Yeomchang	염창	鹽倉	●		0.9	11.4
911	Sinmokdong	신목동	新木洞	|			0.9		12.3	Yangcheon-gu
912	Seonyudo	선유도	仙遊島	|+			1.2		13.5	Yeongdeungpo-gu
913	Dangsan	당산	堂山	●		1.0	14.5
914	National Assembly	국회의사당	國會議事堂	|		1.5	16.0
915	Yeouido	여의도	汝矣島	●		0.9	16.9
916	Saetgang	샛강	샛강	|+			0.8		17.7
917	Noryangjin	노량진	鷺梁津	●		1.2	18.9		Dongjak-gu
918	Nodeul	노들	노들	|			1.1			20.0
919	Heukseok (Chung-Ang University)	흑석 (중앙대입구)	黑石 (中央大入口)	|		1.1	21.1
920	Dongjak (Seoul National Cemetery)	동작 (현충원)	銅雀 (顯忠院)	●+		1.4	22.5
921	Gubanpo	구반포	舊盤浦	|			1.0		23.5	Seocho-gu
922	Sinbanpo	신반포	新盤浦	|			0.7		24.2
923	Express Bus Terminal	고속터미널	高速터미널	●		0.8	25.0
924	Sapyeong	사평	砂平	|+			1.1		26.1
925	Sinnonhyeon	신논현	新論峴	●	Shinbundang  (2021)	0.9	27.0		Gangnam-gu
926	Eonju	언주	彦州	|			0.8			27.8
927	Seonjeongneung	선정릉	宣靖陵	●	Bundang	0.9	28.7
928	Samseongjungang	삼성중앙	三成中央	|+			0.8			29.5
929	Bongeunsa	봉은사	奉恩寺	●		0.8	30.3
930	Sports Complex	종합운동장	綜合運動場	●		1.4	31.7		Songpa-gu

Future Extensions - Phase 3 (under construction) and possible Phase 4

Station Number	Station name			EX	Transfer	Phase	Station distance	Total distance	Location
	Romanized	Hangul	Hanja				in km
931	Jamsilbondong (2018)	잠실본동	蠶室本洞			3 (under construction)			Seoul	Songpa-gu
932	Samjeon (2018)	삼전	三田
933	Seokchon (2018)	석촌	石村	●	(2018)
934	Bangi Intersection (2018)	방이사거리	芳荑
935	Sinbangi (2018)	신방이	新芳荑
936	Olympic Park (2018)	올림픽공원	올림픽公園	●	(2018)
937	Oryun (2018)	오륜	五輪					39.5
938	Seoul Veterans Hospital (2018)	보훈병원	報勳病院	●			1.6	41.1		Gangdong-gu
939	Gildong Ecological Park (2020)					4
940	Sinsangil (2020)	신상일	新上一
941	Godeok (2020)	고덕	高德		(2020)
942	Singodeok (2020)	신고덕	新高德
943	Saemteo Park (2020)	샘터공원	샘터公園

See also

• Rapid transit in South Korea

References

External links

• Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation Homepage
• The Seoul Underground Subway : Official Tourism (english)
• Seoul Metropolitan Government Line 9 page (Korean) includes a route map, status information and links to the construction companies' websites
• UrbanRail.Net's Seoul Subway page
• New Subway Line Connects Gimpo Airport to Southern Seoul
• SMRT Map, station and route finder

Rapid transit in South Korea
Seoul Capital Area	Urban Seoul ● Line 1 ● Line 2 ● Line 3 ● Line 4 ● Line 5 ● Line 6 ● Line 7 ● Line 8 ● Line 9 Incheon ● Line 1 ● Line 2 ○ Line 3 (planned) Metropolitan ● Line 1 [Korail] ● Line 3 [Korail] ● Line 4 [Korail] ● Gyeongui–Jungang Line [K1/K3] ● Gyeongchun Line [P1] ● Suin Line [K2] ● Bundang Line [K2] ● Gyeonggang Line [K4] ● AREX ● Shinbundang Line [DX Line] ○ Sosa–Wonsi Line (u/c) Light Metro ● U Line ● Everline ○ Ui-Sinseol Line (u/c) ○ Gimpo Goldline (u/c) Maglev and Monorail ● Incheon Airport Maglev  ○ Wolmi Monorail (u/c)
Busan	Urban ● Line 1 ● Line 2 ● Line 3 ● Line 4 ● Line 5 (u/c) Metropolitan ● Donghae Nambu Line (u/c) Light Metro ● Busan–Gimhae LRT
Daegu	● Line 1 ● Line 2 ● Line 3
Daejeon	● Line 1 ● Line 2 (planned)
Gwangju	● Line 1