The number of passengers injured in safety accidents on Seoul's subway system topped 1,000 last year, more than double the figure recorded in 2021.
Safety accidents on Seoul subway lines 1 through 9, the Ui-Sinseon Line and the Sillim Line left 1,062 people injured last year, according to data submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, on the 18th. The figure has risen every year from 493 in 2021 to 621 in 2022, 779 in 2023 and 885 in 2024.
By type, falls and collisions inside stations — in concourses, transfer passageways and on stairs — were the most common at 317 cases. Door-related injuries followed at 282 cases, along with 224 accidents involving escalators and elevators, 195 accidents aboard trains and 110 cases of passengers slipping into the gap between the platform and the train.
Express Bus Terminal Station recorded the most injuries with 40, followed by Noryangjin Station with 30, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station with 28 and Sadang Station with 19. By line, Line 9 had the most at 205, followed by Line 2 with 193 and Line 5 with 174.
With 590 more passengers injured through August this year, the cumulative total since 2021 reached 4,430. Medical payments to injured passengers over the same period came to about 3.585 billion won ($2.5 million). Annual payments also rose from 569 million won in 2021 to 847 million won last year.
"The Seoul Metropolitan Government must reset its priorities for safety investment, including at transfer stations and escalators and elevators where accidents are concentrated, and come up with measures that can actually reduce the number of injuries," Hwang said.