Seoul Metro labor protest causes morning subway delays

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Seoul Metro labor protest causes morning subway delays

Published: 20 Nov. 2024, 10:45 Updated: 20 Nov. 2024, 19:01

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Passengers board and alight from subway line No.1 at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Wednesday, when some employees from the city's subway operator Seoul Metro began a work-to-rule protest. [NEWS1]

Subway services in the greater Seoul area experienced delays of around 20 minutes on Wednesday morning as some workers from Seoul Metro began their work-to-rule protest.

Currently, two railway labor unions — one from Seoul Metro and the other from the state-run Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) — are staging work-to-rule protests or labor slowdowns, which are affecting the punctuality of train services in the metropolitan region.

Seoul Metro operates the city’s subway lines No. 1 through 8, while Korail runs some metro lines that travel in and out of the capital.

Out of 470 scheduled subway operations on lines No. 1, 3 and 4, as well as the Suinbundang Line and Gyeongui Jungang Line managed by Korail between 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., 23 have been delayed by more than 20 minutes, the state-owned railway corporation said.

Korail said that it is making every effort to minimize inconvenience to passengers resulting from the labor actions. It added that high-speed trains such as KTX are operating as usual.

Passengers scramble on a subway platform at Sindorim Station in Guro District, southern Seoul on Wednesday morning, when some employees of the train service operator Seoul Metro began a work-to-rule protest. [YONHAP]

On Tuesday, Seoul Metro decided to maintain its regular daily schedule — 3,189 operations a day — despite delays caused by its employees. Subway operation intervals will remain as usual: 2.5 to 4.5 minutes during morning rush hour, 3 to 6 minutes during evening rush hour, and 5 to 9 minutes for other times. Also, additional staff from Seoul Metro headquarters, individual stations and security personnel will control passenger traffic to ensure crowd safety inside bustling stations.

Despite the operators' efforts, public transportation users said their commute times take longer than usual, and commuters are leaving home early to arrive at their workplaces on time.

"I left home 30 minutes earlier than other days as I was late for the office for more than 20 minutes on the first day when Korail workers started their work-to-rule protest," said 31-year-old Kim Yeon-hee, who was waiting for the city's line No. 2 subway at Sadang Station in southern Seoul.

Another 41-year-old commuter surnamed Yoon said he "had to take the high-speed train KTX from the city of Goyang instead of the Gyeongui Jungang Line" while transferring to a bus in front of Seoul Station in central Seoul.

The company said it would swiftly inform passengers of the operation status through various broadcast and social media channels, including its official website, https://www.seoulmetro.co.kr, and X account, formerly known as Twitter.

The largest labor union under Seoul Metro announced their collective action on Tuesday after failing to reach a labor agreement with their employer. The union indicated it would initiate a general strike starting Dec. 6. Since Monday, some Korail workers have also joined the work-to-rule protest.

Update, Nov. 20: Added measures announced by Seoul Metro.
Update, Nov. 20: Added passengers' experiences and updated the number of delayed services.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]