The Seoul city government said on the 25th it will resume full operations of the Hangang Bus on all sections starting Mar. 1. After running aground on Nov. 15 last year, the Hangang Bus had operated only partially on the Magok–Yeouido section.
Ahead of the full resumption of service on all sections of the Hangang Bus, the Seoul city government conducted a detailed depth survey on the 8.9-kilometer route from Apgujeong to Jamsil, which is the northbound route of Hannam Bridge. Based on this, the city said it completed dredging in areas where depth had not been secured and removed foreign objects on the riverbed.
In addition, the city built a route deviation prevention system that triggers an alarm when the vessel strays off course to address the route deviation that caused the accident and to improve the visibility of buoys.
Buoys in the accident section were replaced with ones 4.5 meters tall, 3 meters higher than the previous 1.4-meter buoys. The plan is to enhance buoy visibility to improve route identification and nighttime operational safety.
The city also completed 96 corrective actions, including those directly related to operational safety, out of 120 issues flagged in a joint government inspection in Nov. The remaining 24 are being addressed with the goal of completion in the first half.
Routes will be split into eastern (Jamsil–Yeouido) and western (Magok–Yeouido) sections centered on the high-demand Yeouido pier. The route system was reorganized around Yeouido, where boarding demand is highest, to increase efficiency and stability.
Due to the partitioning of routes, transfers between the eastern and western lines at Yeouido are free of expense.
The Hangang Bus will operate 16 round trips on each of the eastern and western lines. The interval between sailings is about one hour.
On the eastern (Jamsil–Yeouido) line, service starts from Jamsil at 10 a.m., and the last boat arrives at 8:27 p.m. On the western (Magok–Yeouido) line, the first departure is at 10:20 a.m., and the last boat arrives at 7:32 p.m.
Starting in Apr., an express line connecting Jamsil–Yeouido–Magok without transfers will be added during commuting hours to ease congestion on existing public transportation. In May, when the Garden Expo is held at Seoul Forest, a temporary pier at Seoul Forest will also be added for visitors.
To allow Hangang Bus users to relax and enjoy the park, the city plans to create river-view gardens around seven piers. At Mangwon, Apgujeong and Ttukseom piers, observation rest areas will be set up to continuously improve boarding conditions and user convenience.
Park Jin-Young, head of the Future Hangang Headquarters of the Seoul city government, said, "We will work closely with the operator to make the Hangang Bus a trusted service for citizens by providing stable service."