125 Subway Trains Were Delayed In South Korea Because An Operator Went For A Toilet Break
And the toilet break wasn't that long too.
By Celine Low — 03 Dec 2024, 11:43 AM
A train operator's urgent four-minute bathroom break caused a surprising ripple effect across Seoul's subway system
The conductor, operating on Seoul Subway Line 2, stopped the train at a station to use the restroom at around 8am on 26 November.
As the nearest facility was located on a different floor, the operator was away for four minutes and 16 seconds before returning to his post. In order to maintain the interval between trains, all subsequent trains were stopped.
However, this toilet break has resulted in over 125 subsequent trains experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes.
Seoul Subway Line 2 is the most heavily used route as it stops at major shopping destinations such as Hongdae, Myeongdong, and Gangnam.
However, passengers were largely unaffected by the delay.
Seoul Metro, the city's subway operator, clarified that passengers were able to board the next available train without experiencing major disruptions to their journeys.
"Since trains are operated at regular intervals due to train control, there were no delays felt by passengers and the trains operated normally," a spokesperson explained.
This incident comes at a time of growing unrest among South Korea's public transport workers
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), have organised a strike since early November to demand better working conditions and address workplace discrimination.
Employees of major Seoul transit operators, including Korea Railroad (KORAIL) and Seoul Metro, joined the strike, seeking a 5% raise and more manpower.
According to KBS News, the punctuality rate fell from the usual 100% to 96% since the strikes began, and there were many cases of trains being delayed by more than five minutes on subway lines 1, 3, and 4.
KORAIL's unionised workers plan to launch an indefinite strike on 5 December, followed by simultaneous walkouts by the unionised Seoul subway workers and non-regular school workers the following day.
