The government said Friday it will devise measures to ease the notorious congestion on a light metro line linking Seoul with one of its satellite cities to the west, following the recent fainting of two passengers.

Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong presided over an emergency meeting to discuss overcrowding mitigation measures for the Gimpo Goldline, a two-carriage subway line that opened in 2019 to connect Gimpo, a city on the western outskirts of Seoul, to the capital's subway system via Gimpo International Airport Station.

A platform at Gimpo International Airport Station on the Gimpo Goldline is packed with passengers waiting to board a train in western Seoul on April 13, 2023.

The Gimpo Goldline, the only means of rail transport for the city's 500,000 people, has been nicknamed the "hell train" as its congestion reaches intolerable levels during rush hour. Eventually, two passengers -- a high school girl and a woman in her 30s -- collapsed complaining of breathing difficulties at Gimpo International Airport Station on Tuesday morning.

In the meeting, Won said he will push to drastically increase the number of shuttle buses between Gimpo and Gimpo International Airport. To that end, the minister said he will ask Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to create bus-only lanes in the Seoul sections of a main road between Gimpo and the airport. Gimpo residents have reportedly been reluctant to use buses due to rush hour traffic congestion.

Bus-only lanes have already been installed on the Gimpo sections of the main road.

In response, the Seoul city government said it will swiftly push to establish bus-only lanes on the road despite structural problems stemming from numerous intersections with highway ramps and underground roads.

The Seoul government also announced its own measures to address the Gimpo Goldline problems, including the deployment of "cut-men."

Some Seoul Metro personnel will be deployed as so-called cut-men as soon as possible to Gimpo Goldline stations to manage overcrowding on the platforms and trains, the city government explained, adding they will serve to restrict people from getting on board when a train is too crowded.

It will also increase the frequency of buses on routes linking Gimpo to downtown Seoul and consider introducing an amphibious bus service between Gimpo and Han River docks.

Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong (R) speaks during a government meeting convened at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul on April 14, 2023, to discuss measures to alleviate overcrowding on the Gimpo Goldline.

In the long term, the government will accelerate the planned extension of Seoul Subway Line 5 to Gimpo and the construction of the Great Train Express D Line, a high-speed commuter railway, between Gimpo and the eastern Seoul area.

It will also push to increase the number of carriages per Gimpo Goldline train to five next year and shorten the interval times between trains.

Source: Yonhap News Agency