Gangnam station

Gangnam Station is a station in the Gangnam District and Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, on the Seoul Subway Line 2. This station serves as a crucial transfer point between Line 2 and buses to all over Seoul and southern Gyeonggi Province. It became the northern terminus of the Shinbundang Line on October 29, 2011, the southern terminus being at Jeongja Station.

222 Gangnam Station
Station Sign (Line 2)
Korean name
Hangul	강남역
Hanja	江南驛
Revised Romanization	Gangnam-yeok
McCune–Reischauer	Kangnam-yŏk
General information
Location	804 Yeoksam 2-dong, 303 Gangnamdaero Jiha, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Operated by	Seoul Metro, NeoTrans Co. Ltd.
Line(s)	Line 2      Shinbundang Line
Platforms	4
Tracks	4
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Key dates
December 23, 1982[1]	Line 2 opened
October 28, 2011[1]	Shinbundang Line opened
Passengers
(Daily) Based on Jan-Dec of 2012. Line 2: 207,410[2] Shinbundang Line: 19,856[2]
Services
Preceding station Seoul Metropolitan Subway Following station Yeoksam Next counter-clockwise Line 2 Seoul National University of Education Next clockwise Terminus Shinbundang Line Yangjae towards Gwanggyo

Both stations have two tracks and two side platforms.

History

• December 23, 1982 - Line 2 station completed.
• October 29, 2011 - Shinbundang Line station completed.

The station

The area surrounding the station is an important commercial and entertainment district. The station is located at the western end of Teheranno, home to many corporate headquarters and impressive towers, while the area immediately to the north of the station is densely packed with bars, restaurants and clubs. There are also many shops in the subway station below ground. In 2007, the area was the 10th most expensive shopping street in the world with an average rent of US$431 per square foot.[3]

The section of Gangnam Boulevard from exit No.2 of this station to exit No.5 of Sinnonhyeon Station of Line 9 is designated as a smoke-free zone by the Gangnam District office.[4]

Line 2 runs on the right hand track, whereas the Shinbundang Line runs on the left hand track; this is because the Shinbundang Line is a national railway line (which typically runs on the left), while Line 2 is a subway line (which typically runs on the right in Seoul). This can be confusing to tourists making a transfer here, as many tourists are accustomed to riding on either the left-hand track or the right-hand track.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit
L1 Concourse	Lobby	Customer Service, Shops, Vending machines, ATMs
L2 Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Inner loop	← Line 2 toward Chungjeongno (Seoul Nat'l Univ. of Education)
	Outer loop	→ Line 2 toward City Hall (Yeoksam) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
L3 Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the left
	Southbound	→ Shinbundang Line toward Gwanggyo (Yangjae) →
	Northbound	← Shinbundang Line Alighting Passengers Only
	Side platform, doors will open on the left

Passenger load

In 2007, it was the busiest subway station in the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system, with approximately 123,000 daily passengers using it on average.[5]

In a survey conducted in 2011 by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs on 92 Administrative divisions across the country, it reported that Gangnam Station had a daily average of 110,129 people boarding and 114,338 people alighting the subway. Making this the busiest public transit stop, with more than 100,000 people every day.[6]

Vicinity

• Exit 1: KIPO Seoul Office
• Exit 8: Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters)

The headquarters of South Korean skincare and cosmetics manufacturer Skin Food is in the DaeRyung Scecho Tower in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu nearby to this station.[7]

References

1. 강남역 (in Korean). Doopedia. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
2. Monthly Number of Passengers between Subway Stations Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Korea Transportation Database, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
3. "New York's Fifth Avenue tops the ranking of the world's most expensive shopping locations". Cushman & Wakefield Inc. 14 Nov 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-08-25.
4. Kwon, Sang-soo (12 September 2012). "City designates area by COEX as smoke-free". Joongang Daily. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
5. Friday and Gangnam station attract the largest number of passengers, Money Today, August 7, 2005. (in Korean)
6. "Gangnam Busiest Subway Station in Korea". Chosun Ilbo. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
7. "Skin Food<Headquarter Address". Skin Food official website. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.