Seoul Station

Seoul Station is a major railway station in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The station is served by the Korail Intercity Lines and the Commuter trains of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway.

Not to be confused with Soul Station.

For the 2016 film, see Seoul Station (film).

Seoul 서울
Korean name
Hangul	서울역
Hanja	서울驛
Revised Romanization	Seoul-yeok
McCune–Reischauer	Sŏul-yŏk
General information
Location	Bongnae-dong and Dongja-dong, Seoul South Korea
Coordinates	37°33′11″N 126°58′21″E
Operated by	Korail Korail Airport Corporation Seoul Metro
Construction
Structure type	At-grade and underground (Subway and AREX)
History
Opened	July 8, 1900 (1900-07-08) (original station building)

Services

The station is the primary terminus for the KTX and express services to Busan or Mokpo. The station is also served by about a dozen trains per day on the Honam Line and its express Gwangju station and Mokpo. The station used to be the terminus for all long-distance trains on the Gyeongbu Line, Honam Line, Jeolla Line, and Janghang Lines, but in early 2004, the terminus for most Honam Line, Jeolla Line, and Janghang Line trains was moved to Yongsan.

AREX express trains provide service to Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 station. Service began December 29, 2010.

Seoul Subway serves the station with Line 1 and Line 4, and an hourly train on the Gyeongui–Jungang Line.

Around 2015, a large bus transfer center was built in front of the station's main entrance. It has about nine platforms that services different bus routes in Seoul. It is separated from the main roads with a barrier around the platforms. Yet having a rather complicated structure with many bus platforms, the transfer center is built in a simple manner as it is not a separate terminal building.[1]

Station layout

Korail

서울 Seoul
Location	43–205, Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (1 Namdaemunno)
Owned by	Korea Rail Network Authority
Operated by	Korail
Line(s)	Gyeongbu Line Gyeongin Line Honam Line Jeolla Line Janghang Line
Platforms	14 + 1 Gyeongui–Jungang Line platform
Tracks	7 (Korail Intercity) 1 (Gyeongui–Jungang Line)
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Other information
Station code	P313 (Gyeongui–Jungang Line)
History
Opened	September 12, 1988
Traffic
Passengers	93,171 (Korail Intercity)[2] 13,263 (Gyeongui–Jungang Line)[3]
Services Preceding station   Korail   Following station Haengsin Terminus Gyeongbu KTX Gwangmyeong toward Busan Gyeongbu KTX (via Gupo) Dongdaegu toward Busan Gyeongjeon KTX Dongdaegu toward Jinju Donghae KTX Dongdaegu toward Pohang Terminus Gyeongbu KTX (via Suwon) Yeongdeungpo toward Busan Gyeonggang KTX Cheongnyangni toward Gangneung Mugunghwa-ho Yongsan toward Busan Yeongdeungpo toward Jecheon Yeongdeungpo toward Jinju Terminus Gyeongui–Jungang Line Gyeongui Express Line Sinchon toward Munsan

↑Sinchon

| | | | | | 1 |

Terminus

↑ Sinchon

Seobu | | 14·13 | | 12·11 | | 10·9 | | 8·7 | | 6·5 | | 4·3 | | 2·1 |

Namyeong ↓

Platform No.	Line	Train	Destination
1	●Gyeongui-Jungang Line	B Express·A Express·Local	Digital Media City Daegok Ilsan Munsan
1·2	Line 1	Former Cheonan·Sinchang Express A	unusing
3·12	Gyeongbu Line	KTX·ITX-Saemaeul·Mugunghwa-ho·Nooriro	Daejeon Dongdaegu Busan Pohang Masan Suncheon Sinhaeundae Sinchang Haengsin (Seoul Arrival)
13·14	Gangneung Line	KTX	Jinbu Gangneung

AREX

A01 서울 Seoul
Entrance for AREX
Owned by	Korea Rail Network Authority
Operated by	Korail Airport Co.
Platforms	2
Tracks	3
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Other information
Station code	A01
History
Opened	December 29, 2010
Electrified	Yes
Traffic
Passengers	29,796[3]
Services Preceding station   Seoul Metropolitan Subway   Following station Terminus AREX Local Gongdeok toward Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 AREX Express Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 toward Incheon International Airport Terminal 2

↑ Terminus ↑

Local

Express

Gongdeok ↓ / Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 1 ↓

Line	Train	Destination
●AREX	Local	Exit Only
●AREX	Local	Gimpo Int'l Airport Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 1 Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 2
●AREX	Express	Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 1 Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 2

• Platform numbers are not assigned; instead, platforms are classified as "express" or "local"

Platform layout (AREX)

AREX platform level	Eastbound local	← AREX Local Alighting passengers only
	Island platform, doors will open on the right
	Westbound local	→ AREX Local toward Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 2 (Gongdeok) →
	Express	→ AREX Express toward Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 2 (Incheon Int'l Airport Terminal 1) →
		← AREX Express Alighting passengers only
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Seoul Metro

Seoul Station 서울
Line 1 platform
Location	Bongnaedong 2-ga, Jung-gu () Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu (), Seoul
Operated by	Seoul Metro
Platforms	1 () 1 ()
Tracks	2 () 2 ()
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Other information
Station code	133 () 426 ()
History
Opened	August 15, 1974 () October 18, 1985 ()
Electrified	Yes
Traffic
Passengers	133,833 ()[3] 32,687 ()[3]
Services Preceding station   Seoul Metropolitan Subway   Following station City Hall toward Soyosan Line 1 Local Namyeong toward Incheon or Sinchang City Hall toward Dongducheon Line 1 Express Namyeong toward Incheon City Hall toward Cheongnyangni Line 1 Rapid (Gyeongbu Red-Cheonan) Namyeong toward Cheonan Hoehyeon toward Danggogae Line 4 Sookmyung Women's University toward Oido

Platform	Line	Destination
Line 1 Platform
To Sinchang/Incheon	●Line 1	Guro Incheon Byeongjeom Cheonan Sinchang
To Soyosan	●Line 1	Cheongnyangni Kwangwoon University Chang-dong Uijeongbu Soyosan
Line 4 Platform
To Danggogae	●Line 4	Chungmuro Dongdaemun Nowon Danggogae
To Oido	●Line 4	Dongjak Sadang Geumjeong Oido

Platform layout (Seoul Metro)

Line 1 platforms	Southbound	→ Line 1 toward Incheon or Sinchang (Namyeong) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound	← Line 1 toward Soyosan (City Hall)
Line 4 platforms	Northbound	← Line 4 toward Danggogae (Hoehyeon)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Southbound	→ Line 4 toward Oido (Sookmyung Women's Univ.) →

History

The former Seoul station, Namdaemun station, started operating in a 33 m² (10 pyeong) wooden building in July 1900 with the extension of the Gyeongin Line north of the Han River. The Gyeongbu Line opened in 1905, and the Gyeongui Line opened in 1921 – both lines connecting to the station. The construction of the current "Old Seoul Station" began on June 1, 1922, and was finished on September 30, 1925.[4] In 1923, the station reverted to the name "Gyeongseong Station," when the name of the city of Seoul changed from Hanseong to Gyeongseong ("Keijo" in Japanese).

The station was renamed "Seoul Station" on November 1, 1947. The station was expanded throughout the post-Korean War era; the Southern Annex of Seoul station was completed on December 30, 1957, and the Western Annex was completed on February 14, 1969. In 1975, the Korea National Railroad's office moved from Seoul Station to the new West Annex Office. A raised walkway connecting the Seoul Station and the West Annex was completed in 1977, and Korea's first privately funded station was erected in 1988 in time for the Seoul Olympics. In 2004, a new terminal adjacent to the existing one was completed to coincide with the introduction of KTX high-speed rail service.[4]

Old Seoul station

Old Seoul Station 구서울역사
Old Seoul station photo taken at 1924.
Other names	Culture Station Seoul 284
Location	1 Tongil-ro, Bongnaedong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Coordinates	37.5559°N 126.9716°E / 37.5559; 126.9716 (Old Seoul Station)
Operated by	Chosen Government Railway (1925-1945) Korea National Railroad (1945-1988)
History
Opened	September 30, 1925
Closed	September 12, 1988
Previous names	Keijo (Gyeongseong) Seoul (1925-1988)

The Old Seoul station (Korean: 구서울역사; Hanja: 舊서울驛舍, literally meaning "Old Seoul station building"), also known as "Culture Station Seoul 284" (Korean: 문화역서울 284), originally named Keijo (Gyeongseong) station and designed by Tsukamoto Yasushi of Tokyo Imperial University, was finished in November 1925. This red brick building, designed in an eclectic style, features a Byzantine-style central dome and a centralized and symmetrical layout.[5] The floor of the Central Hall on the ground floor was covered with granite and the walls were covered with man-made stone. The wooden floor inside the building's VIP Lounge was covered with birch wood and a western style restaurant was located on the 2nd floor.[4]

On September 25, 1981, the old station was designated as Historic Site 284.[4] A restoration project of the old station began in September 2007 to "transform the former Seoul Station, which had lost its functionality as a train station since the opening of the new KTX Station, into a premier national multidisciplinary cultural facility." On the same year, the management was transferred from the Cultural Heritage Administration to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. After the design for former Seoul Station's remodeling was developed in 2009, the remodeling construction began.[6]

On August 9, 2011, the station was reopened as a culture complex with its original exterior, after a two-year restoration project by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the state-run Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF).[7] On April 2, 2012, "Culture Seoul Station 284" was officially launched "as a space for diverse artistic and cultural creation and exchange." The official name, which combines the station's historic, spatial, and urban symbolisms, was selected through a national open call. By combining the notion of a cultural space with the old Seoul Station's historic site number 284, the name aims to embody the concepts of preserving its appearance and value as a historic site while simultaneously cultivating the meaning of the station as a place of various cultural intersections. The restored station is a 9,202m² building with two stories above ground and one story below ground level.[6] The former station, before the renovation, has the main lobby, a waiting room, and a VIP room on the first floor, and a barber shop and restaurants on the second floor. Post-renovation, the first floor contains a venue for performances, exhibitions and events, and a multipurpose hall on the floor above.[8]

Gallery

• 
  Seoul station and former Daewoo Group headquarters building
• 
  AREX Seoul station sign
• 
  Station Platform (Line 4)
• 
  Old Seoul Station
• 
  Construction of the original station in 1924.

See also

• Transportation in South Korea

References

1. "서울역 버스환승센터 - 회현동 - 36 tips". Foursquare.com. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
2. Monthly Number of Passengers between General Railroad Stations Archived October 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Korea Transportation Database, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
3. Monthly Number of Passengers between Subway Stations Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Korea Transportation Database, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
4. "History". Culture Station 284. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
5. "서울역사 (Seoul Station Building)". Seoul Metropolitan Government. 2003. Archived from the original on August 16, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
6. "Restoration Project". Culture Station 284. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
7. "Historic Seoul Station reopens". The Hankyoreh. August 10, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
8. "Old Seoul Station Gets New Lease of Life". Chosun Ilbo. August 10, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2013.

External links

• (in Korean) Station information from Korail
• Seoul Station introduction (KTX Cyber Station)
• Seoul Station introduction (Incheon International Airport Railroad Homepage)