Why does the Seoul subway deliberately have ‘less cool’ cars?

They are not broken A/C cars. Seoul Metro designates some cars as mild-air-conditioning cars for riders who feel cold easily. Its published data lists 24°C for regular cars and 25°C for mild A/C cars.

WHERE ARE THEY?

In the current Seoul Metro data, Lines 3–4 use cars 4 and 7, Lines 5–7 use cars 4 and 5, and Line 8 uses cars 3 and 4. Lines 1 and 2 do not operate dedicated mild A/C cars.

MILD, NOT MALFUNCTIONING

The point is a deliberately slightly warmer setting, not weaker equipment. If strong air conditioning bothers you, the mild A/C car can make a summer ride more comfortable.

Sources & context

2026-09-18

data.seoul.go.kr ↗