On September 19th, the Yeungnam University subway station will open. The Daegu subway line 2 has been newly extended from Sawol station to Yeungnam Univ. station. The extension of line 2 is expected to bring some important changes to Yeungnam University. These changes will affect life on and off campus, as well as how students and faculty commute to and from the university. There will be some profound changes to how students commute every day. Many students have experienced a great deal of difficulty just trying to get to campus. Extending line 2 will solve many of these inconveniences. The Observer looked into some changes and effects that can be expected due to the extension of line 2.
Summary of construction on the subway extension
The extension is from Sawol station, which has been the final station of line 2 since it opened in 2005, to Dae-dong, Gyeonsan-si, Yeungnam University. The length of the extension is 3.33km. As a result of this construction, additional stations have been built. They are Jeongpyeong station, Imdang station, and Yeungnam Univ. station. The construction started on July 2nd, 2007 and work is scheduled to finish on August 29th, 2012, a total of 62 months. The goal of the extension is to promote balanced development among regions and to boost the local economy through establishing better public transportation options. Moreover, it is hoped that the extension will relieve traffic congestion in the Gyeongsan area including the rush hour jams that are caused by YU students, faculty, and other citizens in the area.
Opening date and running time
The extended subway line 2 will open on September 19th. Operating hours are as follows: The first train from Yeungnam Univ. station to Munyang station will run at 5:30 a.m. The first train from Munyang will arrive at Yeungnam Univ. station at 6:25 a.m., another early train from Igok will arrive at Yeungnam Univ. at 6:11 a.m. Moreover, the last train from Yeungnam Univ. to Munyang is going to be at 11:06 p.m. and 11:18 p.m. to Igok. The last train to Yeungnam Univ. station from Munyang station will run at midnight.
Change in how students commute to school
The school bus stop at Sawol station will shut down due to the subway line extension to Yeungnam Univ. station. In addition to this, other school buses that run to and from the university will change as well. The new school bus schedules are going to be tested starting in October. First, the number of school buses running to and from Banyawol station will decrease sharply. It will no longer run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. School buses to and from Banyawol station will run from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. every ten minutes, from 8 a.m. to 8:25 a.m. every five minutes, from 8:25 a.m. to 8:46 a.m. every three minutes, and after that it run until 10 a.m. every ten minutes.
The long distance school buses, except for Chilgok and Sangin, currently run twice at 7 o’clock in the morning, and now an additional bus will run at 9 a.m. for students who come to the university late. Most of the long distance school buses will be reduced from two buses to one at 10:30 p.m. For the students who go back home early, one additional bus will run at 8:30 pm. Students who want to stay at the university late can use Yeungnam Univ. station instead of the 10:30 p.m. bus service. At Sangin, a bus currently runs at 6:55 a.m. and five buses also currently run at 7 a.m. Now, there will be four buses at 9 a.m. At Chilgok, a bus currently runs at 6:50 a.m. and nine buses at 7 a.m. There will be an additional six buses at 9 a.m. A new school bus route will also be established. The new bus stop will be nearby Cheonggu high school which is located in Sincheon-dong, Dong-gu, Daegu. It is being provided for students who live in Dong-gu and Suseong-gu. Two buses will run at 7:00 a.m. and one bus will run at 9:00 a.m. A bus will also run at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. to help students that go home late.
The campus shuttle buses will also change. Prior to the subway extension, shuttle buses were divided into five routes and they rotated on campus along these courses at set times. However, the routes of the shuttle buses will change for students who pass by the gate after the extension opens. The shuttle buses will be divided into two routes along the campus. Two shuttle buses are going to run past the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Business & Economics, the College of Music, the College of Design & Art and the College of Law. Three shuttle buses will run past the College of Pharmacy, the College of Science, the College of Nature Resources and the College of Engineering. The campus shuttle buses will be able to run more often by simplifying the routes.
Changes around the university
There will be more convenient transportation for students who commute every day.
Students who go to the university using the subway used to get off at Sawol station and then they had to transfer to a school bus. Now they will not need to deal with this hassle. They will be able to come straight to the university via the subway. Moreover, they can save time because the time taken to transfer to a bus will be removed. The subway is also much faster than the bus. Even if the distance is the same, the subway does not have to deal with traffic and it always takes the same amount of time to arrive at its destination. Students who transfer more than two times at once will also save transportation expenses. Based on the existing transit system, free transfers are available within 30 minutes after they get off the bus or subway. Therefore, students often had to spend money one more time if they had to change the means of transportation. However, the subway extension will allow students who get off the bus and get on the subway to take another bus again and will save the expense because they will only have to transfer one time. Additionally, students will be able to leave for home later. Since the closing time of the subway is much later than the last scheduled bus, students will have access to public transportation for a longer period of time every day. For example, the number 649 bus stops running at 10:30 p.m., and the last subway runs at Sawol station at 11: 12 p.m.
Studio apartments
The area surrounding Gyeongsan fire station is also changing. The area has been greatly influenced, and about fifty new buildings have been built. Even though it had been predicted that the real estate near the main entrance of the subway will increase in cost, general monthly rent of studio apartments has not risen in cost because even among the new buildings, there is still a great deal of competition. Moreover, the school bus stops of other area universities will move to the front of YU, so the number of studio apartments is predicted to increase even further.
Other changes
It is predicted that 26,000 people or 70 percent of YU students and faculty will make regular use of the newly extended subway. Moreover, it is expected to ease the financial difficulty of the Daegu subway system if the number of passengers on subway line 2 increases by more than 25%.
The line 2 extension will also bring positive publicity to YU. The university can break away from the image of being on the outskirts of Daegu and the number of external visitors who visit the university museum and Chunma Arts Center are expected to increase.
The extension of subway line 2 will bring about many changes to the lives of YU students and faculty as well as the citizens of Gyeungsan who use public transportation. For example, YU students will no longer use the school bus at Sawol station, the shuttle bus course on campus will also change. Moreover, through this extension, Yeungnam University will become a hub for local universities. As the university grows up, university students should also show good compliance in accordance with the rules and transportation etiquette. Through the extension of the subway, the Observer hopes that people who use the subway will be able to go to and from their university lives more comfortably and safely.
