There aren’t too many stations in Seoul with only one exit and now there is one less, with the addition of another exit at Guil Station (구일역) on Line 1.
While simply adding another exit to a minor station might not seem like news, Guil Station is home to the new Gocheok Sky Dome — Korea’s first dome baseball stadium completed in September last year and the lack of another exit was one of the issues surrounding the opening of the project.
The new stadium is directly next to Guil Station station which sits over the Anyang River. There was previously only one exit from the station which was located on the opposite side of the river and this meant that the walk from the Guil to the dome took about 10-15 minutes. With the new exist this has been shortened to a quick 3 minutes. The new exits will also benefit residents in the area who previously had to cross the Gocheok Bridge if walking west.
Construction on the exit started in early 2015 and wasn’t an easy job. On top of the station being located over water, 266 trains pass through the station everyday and construction crews could only work between 2am and 4am, as this was the only time that the tracks were clear. This was accompanied by working around live 25,000 volt lines and under a busy elevated highway.
With the baseball season now underway and the Sky Dome home to the Nexen Heroes, the new exit will be getting a lot of foot traffic. In May another exit connected to the express train platform will also open, with express trains stopping at the station on days when games or events are held at the dome.
In addition to the new exit, Seoul says it will be patrolling no parking zones around the stadium to make sure traffic is flowing freely as congestion issues have also been a big concern surrounding the opening of the stadium.
Articles: IT Rail News | Hnews
