More Seoul subway escalators reach replacement age

Social Affairs

Published: 15 Jun. 2023, 17:49

More Seoul subway escalators reach replacement age

A group of investigators including the Korea Railway Police and the National Forensic Service inspects the escalator at Sunae subway station in Bundang, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. Some 14 people were injured when the escalator went in reverse on June 8. [YONHAP]

Nearly 32 percent of escalators at subway stations in Seoul have reached their replacement age, increasing the possibility of a serious accident.

Concerns were raised after 14 people were injured after an escalator at Sunae station in Bundang, Gyeonggi, went into reverse a week ago. The cause of the accident turned out to be worn-out key components that should have been replaced earlier, and the emergency brake that was supposed to prevent the escalator from going in reverse also did not do its job.

Seoul Metro said on Thursday that 578 escalators among the 1,827 at Seoul's subway stations were built at least 20 years ago and has yet to be replaced.

As per regulations, escalator components are required to be replaced every 15 to 20 years.

“Escalators at subways used by a lot of people have the potential to break down more often or deteriorate quickly if they had been in use for at least 20 years,” said Lee Young-joo, professor of fire prevention science at the University of Seoul.

A key issue is the limited budget, with the Seoul subway operator working with 5.25 billion won ($4.09 million) to repair escalators for this year.

The cost to update a single escalator is 550 million won.

“We are in a serious financial crunch as we reported a 630 billion won deficit last year,” said a Seoul Metro official. “It is not easy to speed up the replacement of outdated escalators.”

However, the Seoul Metro official added that the operator plans to follow the required maintenance more rigorously for now to prevent another Sunae station incident.

Although the first subway in Korea was built in 1974, most of the escalators in operation at subway stations today were installed around 2000.

However, as these escalators exceed two decades of service, the number of escalators that have been malfunctioning has been rising in recent years.

In 2000 there were 127 cases of reported malfunctioning escalators. The number rose to 185 in 2021 and was at 323 last year. Yet the subway operator continues to struggle financially, with the government freezing public transportation fees since 2015.

The number of subway escalators in Seoul that will need to be replaced is expected to amount to 1,148, or 63 percent, within 10 years.

Even in stations for line No. 9, the newest route that began operations in 2009, 433 out of the 666 installed escalators are already 10 to 15 years old.

“We plan to replace some 433 escalators by 2031 after negotiating with the Seoul city government,” said a Seoul Metro Line 9 Co. official.

For subway lines operated under Korea Railroad (Korail), including Sunae station in Bundang where the latest accident happened, 18.1 percent or 479 out of 2,640 subway station escalators are already 15 years old or older.

Some 121 escalators or 4.6 percent are at least 20 years old.

The escalator at Sunae station involved in the latest incident was installed 14 years ago and was just a year shy of being required to undergo maintenance.

“We plan to invest 13 billion won this year in replacing 120 escalators that have already reached the age for maintenance,” said a Korail official.

The issue of proper inspection has also been raised regarding the Sunae station accident, with the escalator involved in the incident passing inspection last month.

BY KIM MIN-WOOK, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]