hankyoreh

As the worst cold snap of the year raged yesterday, tracks on the Seoul subway system froze and chaos erupted. Operation on the Yongsan-Hoegi line was suspended for five hours after the derailment during transfer of a stalled subway car. Rush hour commuters at Guro Station also experienced great inconvenience with delays due to a damaged power line. KORAIL and Seoul Metro believe the breakdown was due to problems in the electrical system caused by the sudden cold streak.
This is difficult to accept. This is because a cold spell could happen any time, but every time one comes, it could bring the Seoul area to a standstill. Residents are perplexed as to how long they will need to suffer this inconvenience and insecurity. Subway cars and railroads can experience mechanical breakdowns at any time. This is why thorough prior inspection is stressed. The same goes for yesterday’s situation. The cold snap had been predicted for days. If proper inspections had taken place, the problems could have been prevented. There’s no excuse for an even greater accident taking place when the broken-down car derailed as it was being moved.
There has been a succession of railroad accidents since the beginning of this year. In the last half month, there have been accidents including an incident on Jan 2 in which a KTX passed Yeongdeungpo Station and went into reverse, and Seoul area commuter trains and Nuriro trains just blowing past their stops entirely. Some not-so-funny incidents have taken place too, such as trains on the Gyeongchun and Gyeongui lines on outskirts of the Seoul area being unable to function properly on the morning of Jan 1 because the doors on some cars were frozen stuck due to heavy snow and cold.
These rail accidents have increased markedly from the second half of 2008. This was the time when the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs began pushing in earnest the subcontracting of its duties and restructuring manpower in the name of “advancing public institutions.” Through the end of last year, KORAIL reduced their number of regular workers by about 5,000. This year, too, they plan to cut about 2,000 more by expanding private commission for facility upkeep and repair and extending repair cycles. Safety problems are the predictable result.
Another cause of accidents is the use of the same lines by several operators, like in the case of the Seoul area subway. With different management systems and command and control systems, the possibility of accidents increases, and the capacity to quickly deal with emergency situations falls. Each time there is an accident, however, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs temporizes with patch-ups while leaving unsettled the fundamental causes of the accidents. We worry that in that time, the railroad---Korea’s mainstay transportation network---might be crumbling. The ministry must completely reorganize railroad management in a direction that prioritizes user safety and convenience, not efficiency.
　
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