Gwacheon Line is a metropolitan rail line operated by

Korail The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

, South Korea. All trains is operated as a

through service A through service is a concept of passenger transport that involves a vehicle travelling between lines, networks or operators on a regularly specified schedule, on which the passenger can remain on board without alighting. It may be in either of th ...

into

Seoul Metro Seoul Transportation Corporation, branded as Seoul Metro (), is a municipal-owned corporation owned by Seoul Metropolitan Government, and one of the two major operators of Seoul Metropolitan Subway with Korail. History On May 31, 2017, ...

's Line 4 and Ansan Line on the other end. From January 15, 1993, to March 31, 1994, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 operated through the Ansan Line, and since the opening of all sections on April 1, 1994, it has been operated as a part of the Metropolitan Subway Line 4.

Stations

Future

As a transportation measure for

Gwacheon Gwacheon (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang, Gyeonggi, Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 pa ...

Information Town Station, a residential and industrial complex being built in the Galhyeon-dong area of Gwacheon-si, a new station is being built between Indeokwon and Gwacheon Government Complex, with the goal of opening in 2027. In addition, it is said that they are pushing forward with the installation of an evacuation track at Gwacheon Government Complex Station and Daegongwon Station as part of the promotion of the Line 4 express extension.

Criticisms

Noise and frequent operation delays

The Gwacheon Line, along with the

Bundang Line The Bundang Line or Seoul Metropolitan Subway Bundang Line (Sudogwon Jeoncheol Bundangseon ) was a commuter rail line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway in the Seoul Capital Area operated by Korail. Also it refers physical railway track from Wangs ...

which was completed around the same time, was given the nickname of "Noise Line" due to the inappropriate design of the concrete finish in their tunnels. Before passenger use of the line commenced, the Seoul Metro Corporation ran a series of test runs on the Gwacheon and Ansan Lines, but they led to a series of operation delays due to reasons such as confusing the change in electric current that occurs in the rest of Line 4. Furthermore, the new trains that were deployed for the opening of the Gwacheon Line, the Korail Class 341000 and the Seoul Metro 4000 series, used

VVVF A variable-frequency drive (VFD, or adjustable-frequency drive, adjustable-speed drive, variable-speed drive, AC drive, micro drive, inverter drive, variable voltage variable frequency drive, or drive) is a type of AC motor, AC motor drive (sys ...

inverters instead of the chopper controls that were used until that point, which meant that a sufficient period of test runs was needed. However, the trains were put into service without enough test runs, unbeknownst that there was an issue with the new trains' circuitry. The Korail Class 341000 trains ended up causing 15 incidents within the first 6 days of operation, and the Seoul Metro 4000 series trains also caused 3 incidents within the first month of operation. Due to the frequency of the incidents,

(then the Railroad Administration Bureau) stopped the operation of some trains while their faulty parts were replaced, and the Seoul Metro Corporation also replaced faulty parts on 3 of their trains.

References

As part of the first new town development in the early 1990s, the Gwacheon Line was built under the leadership of the Korea Railroad Administration (currently Korea Railroad Corporation) for the purpose of connecting Sanbon New Town and Pyeongchon New Town with Gwacheon City and Seoul Metropolitan City. From January 15, 1993, to March 31, 1994, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 operated like the Ansan Line, and since the opening of all sections on April 1, 1994, it has been operated as a part of the Metropolitan Subway Line 4.

External links