although neighboring ShangHai Airport hass the World’s first operating Maglev Train the now Technological Wonder of South Korea’s Capital of Seoul has been lacking effective transportation to its serving airports – namely Kimpo serving mostly domestic routes and some to Japan and China, and the still far-away inCheon international Airport which again is one of the most modern airports in the World but in my humble experience : an over-clout extension of Korean Department Stores with myriads of branches throughout the huge dome .
now if you take the express train which skips many except 9 stops you can go from ShinNonHyun Subway Station in Western KangNam area to the domestic Kimpo Airport in 30 minutes, over a distance of 25.5 km. then from there after a 10 minute walk you can take the inCheon Airport Train further to the international Airport for a total of 1 hour . Subway Line 9 will operate from 5:30 am until midnight with intervals of 8 ~ 13 minutes and 5 minutes during traffic hours .
however this is linking only the Western tip of KangNam and plans incude extending it East to Olympic Stadium in 2013 and BangEeDong by 2015 .
as most early civilization forming over a major river, in this case HanKang or Han River, Seoul is largely divided into the old downtown and the new KangNam (which literally means “South of the River”) South across the river which made many people rich in the first major land property Boom in the 70’s . the old downtown is so crowded you’re better off walking or taking the efficient subway, but once South the roads are large and building spread out you would yearn for a car . but in the end uneffective city planning unable to see into the future has made all of the Capital of Seoul traffic-prone throughout business days and a major complaint of visitors from abroad .
still before today there has been a subway route into Kimpo Airport from the old downtown though NOT through the major City Hall but now with Subway Line 9 it would be a breeze coming from South of the River in KangNam . mind-you : subways in South Korea is usually spotlessly clean and very well heated in Winter and Air Conditioned in Summer more like the forebearers in neighboring Tokyo and Osaka as opposed to at times dangerous AND smell-prone subways in Manhattan, London or Paris – which really are the Wonder of technology considering the early times it was built .
No Comments