Topic summary
Seoul Subway Line 9
Seoul Subway Line 9, operated by the Seoul Line9 Operation, is a subway line in Seoul, part of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. The line runs east from Gaehwa station (local train terminal) or Gimpo International Airport station (express train terminal, connecting to Line 5, AREX, the Gimpo Goldline and the Seohae Line) along the south bank of the Han River towards VHS Medical Center in Gangdong. In 2019, Line 9 had an annual ridership of 225 million or about 616,000 people per day.
Line 9 was constructed as a double track subway, but several stations feature passing loops enabling express trains to overtake local trains. Express trains run around five times per hour in each direction. All stations are equipped with elevators, escalators, and platform screen doors.
Line 9 is one of two numbered lines to have a unique station sign design, a trait it shares with Line 6; it has a simplistic nameplate for its design, with no frame. The current number and name of the station (in Hangul, English, and Hanja) are displayed at the top, with the neighboring stations in the bottom corners. A triangle points in the direction trains run. Some stations like Eonju feature a black nameplate with a similar layout, but with the triangle replaced by a full arrow with a dotted body.
Phase 1 (Gaehwa to Sinnonhyeon) was the first privately run subway line in Korea. The franchise of phase 1 is Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation (SML9), which oversaw the construction of phase 1. SML9 contracted the operation to Seoul Line9 (SL9), a joint venture of Hyundai Rotem (20%) and RATP Dev Transdev Asia (80%, formerly Veolia Transport Korea). Collectively, SLM9 and SL9 are known as Metro9. However, phase 2 (Sinnonhyeon to Sports Complex) and further phases are operated by Seoul Metro.