Construction begins 8 years after the facility was shut down in 2018 — service expected to resume by late December
Dongjak-gu said construction has officially begun to restart the elevator facility at Exit 9 of Isu Station on subway Line 7, a long-sought project by local residents.
The elevator facility at Isu Station Exit 9 was shut down in August 2018 amid a dispute among relevant agencies over responsibility for facility management and maintenance.
Since then, the prolonged outage has caused ongoing inconvenience not only for mobility-impaired users — including the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women — but also for the general public using the station, prompting a steady stream of complaints calling for the facility's restart.
In response, the district held repeated consultations with the relevant agencies to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, while pursuing a range of mediation and administrative efforts: securing consent for the transfer of ownership of the elevator facility, holding stakeholder meetings, and supporting a public briefing session and a petition drive.
As a result, Kyobo Asset Trust, Seoul Metro and the Isu Xi Management Group signed a final agreement on Sept. 5, 2025, marking a turning point for the project. The project operator then held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 29, formally launching the restart construction.
The project focuses on a full replacement of the aging elevator equipment, with an emphasis on improving safety and user convenience.
Construction is targeting completion by the end of this year. If work proceeds smoothly, operation of the facility is expected to resume as early as late December.
Once the elevator facility is back in operation, commuters are expected to see significant improvement in ease of movement during peak hours, and station accessibility for people with mobility challenges is also expected to improve considerably.
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