Organize your civic affairs during four round-trips daily between Seodongtan and Seongbuk. “Saving citizens time, it will symbolize a public civic service that comes to you.”

The sixpublic service officers aboard the train provide consultation about employment, welfare, common civic issues, health, and finances; they include the team leader, three civil servants, a job counselor, and a financial counselor.

Photo: Financial counseling. © G News Plus Hwang Jin-Hwan

Photo: Health counseling. © G News Plus Hwang Jin-Hwan

November 29th will be remembered as the day a paradigm shift occurred in public services in Korea. For the first time anywhere in the country, Gyeonggi Province ran the 24/365 Gyeonggi Public Service Subway, through which one can resolve civic issues while commuting.

Governor Kim Moon-Soo and others participated in a trial-run event at Suwon Station on November 29th, the first day this service operated. Governor Kim, who remained aboard this public service train until Anyang Station, examined the interior of the train and conversed with passengers about their opinions of the service. He himself counseled passengers regarding civic issues.

Governor Kim shared his impressions of the ride: “Gyeonggi Province is large, so it takes a long time to commute across it. This public service train saves citizens time and actively offers various public services; that’s the reason we came up with this idea. It will be the hallmark of Gyeonggi Province’s public service, which in the future will come to you, whenever, wherever, 365 days a year.”

As it was the first day, it was expected that the service might be somewhat unfamiliar to passengers, but there was an immediate and favourable response. Kim Hyae-Gyeong a 29-year old jobseeker from Yongin City, received counseling from Governor Kim regarding employment. She said “I am trying to get a job counselor license for employment in that area, and I received a lot of information on this train. I don’t have enough time to go to a job center or employment security center in person. Receiving public service in this way saved a lot of time, which is good”

Muhandolbom welfare counseling was popular on the public service train that day. In particular, many people subscribed to the U-Safe Call Service, whereby, in the event of a 119 emergency call from landline or cell phone, this service retrieves information including the location of the caller that has been previously registered with the fire department situation room so as to enable a more rapid response.

Mr. Lee Seon-Yeoul of the 24/365 Public Service Subway said “Five people signed up between Byeongjeom Station and Anyang Station alone, mostly between the ages of 50 and 60. One passenger signed up for her father-in-law.”

Gyeonggi Province created the public service train by renovating an interior carriage in a train that travels between Seodongtan and Seongbuk on Subway Line 1. It runs from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm and makes four round trips per day (twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon). The one-way travel time averages one hour and 45 minutes.

Diverse amenities are provided including a nursery, water cooler, cell phone chargers, bookstore, wi-fi zone, agricultural products stall, and more. If residents have proper authorization, they can make use of a laptop to print out documents such as their resident registration and so on.

Depending on the success of the trial project, Gyeonggi Province plans to operate a public service train between Incheon and Soyosan as well as between Cheonan and Cheongnyangni on Line Number 1. In addition, Gyeonggi plans to pursue patent registration of the public service train concept, as it is the first of its kind in the world.

Autonomy Assistance Division Director Oh Taek-Young said, “This public service train is unprecedented in the world. It will receive a great response from busy professionals, college students and other young people. As the number of users of the service continues to expand, new content will be developed and the service improved.

Diverse amenities are provided on the public service train, such as a nursery, water cooler, cell phone chargers, bookstore, wi-fi zone, agricultural products stall, and more. If residents have proper authorization, they may make use of a laptop to print out documents such as their resident registration and so on. © G News Plus Hwang Jin-Hwan

Demonstrating the operation of tablet PCs. © G News Plus Hwang Jin-hwan

© G News Plus News | Nam Kyong-Woo echo2008@kg21.net

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