Seoul Metro Will Replace All Subway Seats To Improve Passenger Comfort

Illustration of the Seoul Metro interior. (Wikimedia Commons/Cfktj1596)

JAKARTA - Line 1-8 subway operator in South Korea's capital, Seoul Metro plans to replace all cloth chairs with plastic chairs reinforced by its entire fleet starting in 2029, to keep the subway clean of rothybugs and other pollutants for the convenience of passengers.

Metro Seoul said the replacement of seats would be carried out to calm people's anxiety about mealybugs, although there has been no real case of the insect being found in an subway carriage, reported by The Korea Times May 1.

The company said it received 66 reports of alleged mealybugs from October to March, but none of the bugs were verified.

According to Seoul Metro, the current condition of the Seoul subway is not suitable for rotten meal.

"Pot nails are insects that hide in the gaps during the day and become more active at night and prefer a humid, dark, warm place," said a Seoul Metro official, quoted by The Korea Herald.

"The basic structure of the subway seating is made of metal and the subway carriages are stored outdoors when they are not operated. As a result, the subway carriages in Seoul are an unfriendly environment for rotten ticks to breed," he added.

Meanwhile, pest experts who have consulted with Seoul Metro say subways continue to vibrate and are a bright environment, making it difficult for roty ticks to breed as subways operate.

However, Seoul Metro stated that it was possible that a rotten meal would be carried into an subway carriage through passenger clothes and baggage.

Therefore, the company routinely controls chemical pests based on high-temperature steam cleaning so that people can use subways without worry.

Currently, chaires made from cloth account for 54 percent of all subway seats operated by the city-run company, followed by plastic chairs (29 percent) and stainless seats (17 percent).

First of all, cloth chairs in 340 subway carriages on Line 3, which will be replaced with plastic chairs reinforced with a budget of 4.5 billion won, he said, adding that the replacement of cloth seats in all carriages is planned to be completed in 2029.