Power outage causes morning commute chaos on Seoul Subway Line 1
Commuters wait for trains on a crowded platform at Yongsan Station of Seoul Subway Line 1, Wednesday, due to a power outage. Yonhap
A power outage disrupted services on Seoul Subway Line 1 on Wednesday morning, the train operator KORAIL said, causing major delays and chaos for commuters during the morning rush hour.
The power outage occurred on the southbound section between Changdong Station and Sinimun Station in northern Seoul at 7:29 a.m., leading to train delays and service disruptions across the entire Line 1 route, according to KORAIL.
The operator suspended southbound train services on a wider section between Dobongsan Station and Cheongnyangni Station for emergency repairs and restored power at 9:48 a.m.
It resumed services on the affected section at 9:57 a.m. and then carried out follow-up work to normalize train intervals on the remaining sections.
As the train service disruptions continued for several hours, major stations were crowded with passengers waiting for delayed trains.
At Yongsan Station in central Seoul, in particular, passengers disembarked simultaneously as an announcement was made that trains would temporarily run only as far as the next station, Namyeong Station, resulting in heavy congestion on the platform, and at nearby bus and taxi stops.
A KORAIL official said the cause of the accident was still under investigation, adding it was doing its best to normalize operations.