Seoul Metro Corporation to Replace 268 Old Train Cars on Lines 4, 5, and 8

457.5 Billion Won to Be Invested by the End of Next Year

Seoul Metro announced on the 11th that it will proceed with the replacement of aging trains on subway lines 4, 5, and 8 following the increase in the basic subway fare.

The company will invest 457.5 billion KRW by the end of next year to replace 268 aging train cars on subway lines 4·5·8 with new trains. This includes 190 cars on line 4, 72 cars on line 5, and 6 cars on line 8. As a result, out of the 470 cars owned on line 4, 310 will be replaced with new trains, raising the proportion of new trains to 66% of the total fleet on line 4. On line 5, 272 out of 608 cars will be replaced, and on line 8, 6 out of 120 cars will be replaced, increasing the share of new trains to 45% and 5%, respectively. This will be the first time new trains run on line 8.

As a result of introducing new trains, the average annual failure rate over the past four years has decreased by 54%, and maintenance costs per kilometer compared to aging trains have been reduced by 58%, saving 1.7 billion KRW annually.

Meanwhile, the company plans to invest 4.6543 trillion KRW in reinvesting in aging facilities by 2027. According to the mid- to long-term financial management plan, costs of around 900 billion KRW are expected this year for replacing aging trains and upgrading aging facilities, and about 1 trillion KRW will be needed next year as well. Besides the fare increase, the company plans to secure government budget support to ensure steady progress in improving subway conditions.

Baekho, CEO of Seoul Metro, said, “We will spare no effort in active facility investment to return the revenue gained from this fare increase to the convenience of citizens,” adding, “Although financial conditions remain difficult, we will continue to request government support for Public Service Obligation (PSO) costs in addition to the fare increase to expedite subway environment improvements as quickly as possible.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.