Hangang Bus declared a "service suspension" 10 days after its introduction on 18th. The 5,000 won additionally paid by season ticket holders will also be refunded.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 28th that it will temporarily suspend passenger boarding on the Hangang Bus for about a month starting on the 29th.
A Seoul city official said, "Errors such as minor technical and electrical defects that can occur during the optimization process in the early stage of Hangang Bus operations have occurred, and although we took immediate normalization measures, we decided to have a pilot operation period to ensure passenger safety and stable operations in the long term."
The pilot operation will run the same as before, with a total of 14 trips a day, seven in each direction. It will operate without passengers, following the existing timetable and routes for inspections.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to build and improve operational data through this pilot run. It also decided to develop response strategies for various scenarios such as heavy rain, heat waves, and dam discharges. The city said, "We will simultaneously carry out optimization and stabilization of the integrated performance of key hull components and mechanical and electrical systems."
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide guidance on changes related to the pilot operation through the Hangang Bus website and mobility apps such as Kakao Map.
In addition, those who purchased season tickets and paid an extra 5,000 won on the Climate Companion Card to board the Hangang Bus will be refunded. After the pilot operation ends, the city will add hybrid vessels and electric vessels to shorten headways and move up the start time of service.
Until now, a total of four hybrid vessels, Nos. 101–104, had been in operation.
Park Jin-Young, head of the Future Hangang Headquarters at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "This is an unavoidable measure to operate the Hangang Bus, which about 25,000 citizens boarded over ten days, more safely and comfortably going forward, and we apologize for the inconvenience to citizens," adding, "Through systematic and thorough pilot operations, we will ensure that the Hangang Bus is reborn as a safer and more reliable waterborne means of transportation representing Seoul."