Scenes from Sin Bundang Opening Night

Wish I knew earlier — rides were free today. This brought out families and couples to take a ride on trains with no drivers. The overall experience was similar to Disney’s monorail, smooth and quiet.

One important thing to note is that the exit numbers at Gangnam have been changed.

–Daniel Daugherty

Scenes from Sin Bundang Opening Night

Wish I knew earlier — rides were free today. This brought out families and couples to take a ride on trains with no drivers. The overall experience was similar to Disney’s monorail, smooth and quiet.

One important thing to note is that the exit numbers at Gangnam have been changed.

–Daniel Daugherty

Sin Bundang Line Opens Today

After a few last-minute delays, Sin Bundang express subway line opened today, connecting Jeongja to Gangnam in 16 minutes. Anyone worried that Seoul was too far away from Bundang will now have a speedy option to complement the extensive bus coverage already available to Bundang residents.

–Daniel Daugherty

New Sin Bundang “Tentative” Opening Date: Oct. 28

After a bout of floods in Seoul, the opening date of the Sin Bundang express subway line has been pushed back yet again, to October 28.  That’s a bummer because it’s a week after my birthday and I wanted to go party in Gangnam.

Apparently, the date is an optimistic estimate.  My guy who knows things says “it’s possible but things will need to go very smoothly until then.”

Even without the flooding, it looks like they’d be pushing back that September 21 date.  I’ve been by a few of the other stops on the line, including Gangnam, and noted that essential installations were still going on, specifically handicap-access elevators and sidewalks.  I snapped some pictures with my phone, some while riding the bus, so the quality’s lacking.

The new Gangnam station entrance for the Sin Bundang line. Note the absence of sidewalk.

And here’s the new Yangjae station. Still in its original wrapping.

Yangjae Station looks much more ready for the opening date than Gangnam.

–Daniel Daugherty

Speculating About the Sin Bundang Line

The new Exit 5 at Jeongja Station silently awaits foot traffic.

Speculation abounds regarding the Sin Bundang Line, a new express subway connecting Jeongja directly to Gangnam in Seoul.  Posters touting the new line brag that it will complete the trip in 17 minutes(!) but I originally heard much higher figures.  Either way, I’m sure the affluent residents of Pangyo will be pleased to finally have a station in their neighborhood.

Nobody really seems to know when it’s set to begin service, though.  The best I can find is an unattributed line at Wikipedia:  ” Construction started in mid-2005, for revenue start in Sep 2011.”  I’d previously heard December 2011, so this is exciting news.

Interesting that the station number is a different color from the Yellow used on Bundang Line stations.

My excitement reached even higher levels when I saw the new station entrances gaping open just a couple blocks north of Jeongja Station.  I’m confused though, because these entrances also say “Jeongja” on them and continue the entrance/exit numbering system where the others left off.

I thought it might be a whole other station, because in Jeongja Station there are currently no signs of expansion or construction.  Then again, maybe getting the line up and running is the first priority.  Connecting or expanding stations can be done later, I guess, but it does make me think that September is just wishful thinking.

Another reason for skepticism about September is that the subway maps don’t show even a dotted line to indicate a future route, the way they did for the new Incheon Airport connection and others.

And it looks like this project may be way behind schedule, which makes me think guessing a date is a waste of time. From Urbanrail.net’s Seoul Metro page:

The proposed Sin Bundang Line Rail Project is a 19.3km rail transit line running in a north-south direction linking the Gangnam area with Jeongja in the Bundang residential district. The proposed alignment passes through 6 stations, i.e. Gangnam, Yangjae, Poi, Cheonggye, Pangyo and Jeongja. It intersects with 2 existing lines at Gangnam and Yangjae. An existing Bundang Maintenance depot, owned by KNR and located approximately 1km south of Jeongja Station, is to be used for the SBL Project rolling stock maintenance. The SBL Line signal system shall be based on state-of-the-art communications-based train control (CBTC) technology, utilizing two-way digital inductive loop communications between intelligent trains, and wayside equipment, and a network of ATS/ATO computers designed for very high system reliability and availability. Construction starts in Mid-2005, for revenue start in Jan 2010. (Emphasis mine)

If you want to add to the speculation, or have more reliable information, we appreciate comments.

–Daniel Daugherty