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A shortage of signaling experts is raising the risk of accidents in Seoul’s subway system, a city assessment team said Thursday.
According to the assessment by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, all eight subway lines operated by state-run companies have an insufficient number of signal experts, leading to unreasonable workload and unqualified personnel being assigned to related duties.
The report showed that only about 60 percent of those assigned to signaling-related duties on lines 1 to 4, which are operated by Seoul Metro, have been professionally trained for the field.
On lines 5 to 8, operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp., the number of people assigned to related duties fell from 563 in 2008 to 508 this year.
Despite the decreasing numbers, signal operators have had to deal with the additional task of managing the safety doors on the platforms since 2012, the report showed. Last year alone, there were 3,260 cases of safety doors malfunctioning on the four subway lines.
Along with the number of personnel, the number of signal processing centers have been reduced to 11 from 44. The intervals between regular assessments have also been extended, while the number of review categories has been cut by 84 percent.
The assessment team also stressed that Line 2’s automatic systems should be changed to the Automatic Train Operation system. At present, ATO and Automatic Train Supervision systems are in used by the trains on the line.
Regarding Seoul city’s plans to replace trains fitted with ATS and Automatic Train Control systems, the assessment team said that retrofitting existing vehicles with ATO and Automatic Train Protection systems would significantly reduce costs.
Under Seoul city’s current plans, train cars on Line 2 will be replaced by 2020, while the replacement schedule for those on lines 1, 3 and 4 would be brought forward. But the project would require more than 800 billion won ($717 million) by 2020, casting doubt on whether the projects can be completed without support from the central government.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
According to the assessment by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, all eight subway lines operated by state-run companies have an insufficient number of signal experts, leading to unreasonable workload and unqualified personnel being assigned to related duties.
The report showed that only about 60 percent of those assigned to signaling-related duties on lines 1 to 4, which are operated by Seoul Metro, have been professionally trained for the field.
On lines 5 to 8, operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp., the number of people assigned to related duties fell from 563 in 2008 to 508 this year.
Despite the decreasing numbers, signal operators have had to deal with the additional task of managing the safety doors on the platforms since 2012, the report showed. Last year alone, there were 3,260 cases of safety doors malfunctioning on the four subway lines.
Along with the number of personnel, the number of signal processing centers have been reduced to 11 from 44. The intervals between regular assessments have also been extended, while the number of review categories has been cut by 84 percent.
The assessment team also stressed that Line 2’s automatic systems should be changed to the Automatic Train Operation system. At present, ATO and Automatic Train Supervision systems are in used by the trains on the line.
Regarding Seoul city’s plans to replace trains fitted with ATS and Automatic Train Control systems, the assessment team said that retrofitting existing vehicles with ATO and Automatic Train Protection systems would significantly reduce costs.
Under Seoul city’s current plans, train cars on Line 2 will be replaced by 2020, while the replacement schedule for those on lines 1, 3 and 4 would be brought forward. But the project would require more than 800 billion won ($717 million) by 2020, casting doubt on whether the projects can be completed without support from the central government.
By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
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