Seoul Metro's 20,000 new platform signs, upgraded displays make stops easier to spot
The additional platform screen door signs and upgraded onboard displays across Lines 1 through 8 will help passengers identify subway stations more easily.
An example of additional station-name signs installed on platform screen doors in Jongno 5-ga Station in central SeoulSEOUL METRO
Now there is no need to swivel around trying to figure out which subway station you've arrived at. Seoul subway operator Seoul Metro has expanded station-name signs on platform screen doors and upgraded onboard information displays to make station names easier to spot from inside trains.
A total of 20,026 station-name signs have been added on platform screen doors across Lines 1 through 8, Seoul Metro said Monday. Seoul Metro currently operates Lines 1 through 8.
With the expansion, passengers can now check the station name at 16 points from inside each subway car, up from 10 previously — which had left some spots without signs — after Seoul Metro added signs to six more emergency doors.
When the signs were first installed in 2023, they were placed on all eight sliding platform screen doors and on two emergency doors per car.
The initiative aims to reduce blind spots where passengers had difficulty identifying their arrival station, following complaints about station names being difficult to see from inside trains.
Seoul Metro has also changed the way information is displayed on screens inside trains.
The subway operator said it updated onboard information displays on 3,080 cars across 358 train sets so the arrival station name remains visible at the top of every screen. Trains that already displayed arrival station names at all times were not included in the upgrade.
Before, left, and after images show an upgraded onboard information display that displays the arrival station name at the top of the screen.SEOUL METRO
The project will be completed by December once upgrades are made to 54 cars on the Line 8 Byeollae Line and 32 cars on the Line 5 Hanam Line
New trains will also adopt the same display format to provide consistent arrival station information across the subway system, according to Seoul Metro.
The upgrades are designed to make it easier for passengers to identify the current stop, particularly during crowded hours when moving through a train to check the station name can be difficult, Seoul Metro said.
Seoul Metro also plans to ask other subway operators to improve the visibility of station names so more passengers across the greater Seoul area can benefit from similar changes.
“We are continuously improving the information system so passengers can identify their arrival station more easily and quickly, whether they are inside or outside the train,” Seoul Metro CEO Kim Tae-gyun said in a press release. “We will continue to look closely at the everyday inconveniences passengers face and make subway information clearer and more intuitive.”
