South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Now, the government aims to increase the number of children with a new subway system.
New Super Subway Aims to Boost Birth Rate
South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Now, the government aims to increase the number of children with a new subway system. The trains that travel at 180 km/h are meant to significantly shorten commutes to work – and provide couples with more time for intimacy.
In South Korea, a kind of Super Subway is expected to contribute to an increase in the birth rate. President Yoon Suk Yeol inaugurated the first section of the 134 trillion Won (equivalent to 92 billion euros) project in the capital Seoul. Shorter travel times will allow people to “spend more time with their families in the mornings and evenings,” said the head of state.
The government hopes that the planned high-speed subway will encourage more young people in the outskirts of the nearly ten million inhabitants metropolis to have children. South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. By 2035, six lines will be built for the Great Train eXpress (GTX), connecting Seoul with several suburban areas.
According to Minister Park Sang-woo of Reuters news agency, the GTX would allow young people to consider living far from the capital without having to commute for hours. “How can one find time for their children after a two-hour commute back home? The idea is to give people more leisure time after work.” The time they save could be spent on their families.
Long commutes as a reason for childlessness
Many young couples in South Korea have cited long commutes to work and tight, expensive apartments in the Seoul metropolitan area as the main reasons for not getting married and starting a family. Half of all South Koreans live in the metropolitan region, which records the lowest birth rate nationwide.
The section of the first line inaugurated by the president is expected to reduce the travel time between the Seoul district of Suseo and the satellite city of Dongtan from the current 80 minutes by bus to 19 minutes with the new subway. The GTX is set to become one of the fastest subway systems in the world, with trains operating at top speeds of 180 km/h.