Rail accounts for about 700,000 of Seoul's 35.73 million daily trips

Jung-gu tops at 40.9%; Yangcheon-gu trails at 6.9%, a 5.9-fold gap

Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea [provided by the lawmaker's office]
Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea [provided by the lawmaker's office]

Rail use — covering the subway, KTX and conventional rail — varies by nearly sixfold across Seoul's districts, according to new data, prompting calls for a closer look at the transport disparities hidden behind the city's overall averages.

Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee who represents Yangcheon-gap in Seoul, obtained 2024 modal-share data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The figures show rail accounts for 19.6 percent of all trips in Seoul — about 2.8 times the national average of 7.0 percent. Of Seoul's daily average of 35.73 million trips, roughly 6.997 million were made by rail.

Among Seoul's 25 districts, Jung-gu recorded the highest rail share at 40.9 percent, followed by Yongsan-gu at 30.8 percent, Jongno-gu at 26.6 percent, Gangnam-gu at 26.2 percent and Mapo-gu at 25.5 percent.

At the other end, Yangcheon-gu posted the lowest rail share at 6.9 percent, followed by Seodaemun-gu at 9.5 percent, Gangbuk-gu at 10.2 percent, Dobong-gu at 12.0 percent and Seongbuk-gu at 13.0 percent. The gap between Jung-gu and Yangcheon-gu stood at 34.0 percentage points — a ratio of 5.9 to one. Yangcheon-gu has ranked last among all 25 Seoul districts in rail share for four consecutive years since 2021.

Bus use across Seoul as a whole stood at 17.4 percent. By district, Seodaemun-gu led at 24.3 percent, followed by Jongno-gu at 23.4 percent, Gwanak-gu at 23.3 percent and Seocho-gu at 21.6 percent. Gangdong-gu recorded the lowest bus share at 12.5 percent, ahead of Seongdong-gu at 12.7 percent, Nowon-gu at 13.6 percent and Jung-gu at 13.9 percent.

Private cars accounted for 20.9 percent of all trips in Seoul. Gangdong-gu had the highest car share at 30.8 percent, while Jung-gu had the lowest at 7.5 percent.

The gap between the highest and lowest district shares was widest for rail at 34.0 percentage points, compared with 23.3 percentage points for private cars and 11.8 percentage points for buses. The rail disparity was roughly 2.9 times that of buses and about 1.5 times that of cars.

"Seoul's overall rail share is higher than the national figure, but a closer look at individual districts reveals significant differences even within the same city," Hwang said. "We need to carefully examine why such large gaps exist in rail use and scrutinize the transport conditions that the city-wide average obscures. Every resident, regardless of which part of Seoul they live in, deserves a basic level of mobility — that is a fundamental transport welfare right."

Hwang added that he would "do his utmost to examine the transport disparities between districts in detail and develop legislative and policy measures that can genuinely close the gap and secure the right to mobility."


bigroot@heraldcorp.com