New Incheon Subway Line 2 trains bring improvements

Earlier this week Incheon announced that 12 new EMUs (six 2-car trains) would soon be introduced to Incheon Subway Line 2 to relieve pressure on the often crowded line. The new trains went into service on December 9.

It didn’t take long for the city’s second dedicated Metro line to become popular after it opened in 2016, reaching 100% capacity in 2017.

Inside one of the new EMUs now operating on Incheon Subway Line 2.

Over this time Incheon Subway Line 2 has transported over 49 million passengers and has suffered ongoing crowding issues. At times, crowding levels reached up to 149.8% during peak hours on certain parts of the route.

In response to this, Incheon launched of a 42.5 billion won project in 2018 to alleviate pressure on the system. This included ordering six additional double-car sets and bolstering other rail infrastructure such as rails, signals and communications equipment.

While original trains on the line were produced by Hyundai Rotem, the new vehicles were produced by Woojin Industrial Systems and will bring the total number of EMUs on Line 2 to 86.

With this improved capacity, the number of trains per day will increase from 460 to 477, and it’s hoped this will reduce crowding by 15% across the busiest parts of the line.

More services also mean reduced wait times for passengers during peak hours, with morning services to arrive every 2m 56s, compared to the previous 3m 20s. Evening services will only see a small improvement though, with wait times reduced by just 9 seconds.

“We are pleased that the addition of the new trains will improve riding comfort for passengers,” said Incheon Mayor Yoo Jung-bok at a ceremony located inside Unyeon Train Depot.

Yoo said that more improvements to trains and stations were on the way for Incheon Subway Line 1 too, including more escalators and elevators to increase accessibility.

It will be interesting to see how much of an effect the increased services and capacity have on crowding during busy times. Let us know if you use this route for your daily commute!

Images supplied by Incheon City