Riding subway tops list of things-to-do in Seoul

The Seoul Metro was listed as the No. 1 tourist attraction for Seoul on global travel review platform TripAdvisor.

Using top-rated, user-submitted “Things to Do” in each country, the site curated an exhaustive travel itinerary featuring top tourist attractions of the world.

Scoring 4.5 out of 5 points average from 9,327 reviewers, Seoul Metro ranked No. 1 on “Things to Do,” followed by the War Memorial of Korea and the palace Gyeongbokgung, which ranked second and third, respectively.

A new release from the Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Sunday, sought to explain possible reasons behind the metro’s No. 1 ranking on the list, citing widely acclaimed features of the transit system.

The major perks of Seoul Metro as shortlisted by SMRT were complimentary Wi-Fi coverage, air-conditioned cars and the public transport card that enables easy transfers between subway lines. The extensive presence of escalators and elevators was also mentioned as a notable advantage raising accessibility of the transit system.

“Last month, London Underground announced plans to improve the transit experience for older and disabled people by raising the proportion of step-free access from 26 to more than 40 percent of stations in the network. The proportion of such stations in Seoul Metro is already three times higher than that of London,” said an SMRT official.

Once the elevator installation works in progress at 11 stations are completed, Seoul Metro will become even more accessible.

“We receive about 1,500 complaints each day solely on the issue of air conditioning in the subway cars. However, Seoul Metro has a world-class reputation especially considering the acclaim we receive from overseas. We hope our citizens also take note of such fact,” SMRT public relations director Kang Seung-ho told Hankyeoreh on Monday.

By Kim Min-joo/ Intern reporter (mjk625@heraldcorp.com)