{
  "id": 15853965,
  "title": "High tech, universal access propel Seoul subway to top of global rankings",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/high-tech-universal-access-propel-seoul-subway-to-top-of-global",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-21T06:37:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20261021/high-tech-universal-access-propel-seoul-subway-to-top-of-global-rankings"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Seoul's subway system has been named the world's top-ranked metro by international travel publications Time Out and CNN, due to its exceptional cleanliness, safety, and technological amenities. The city's top ranking in the 2026 global transit survey by Time Out, an increase of three spots from the previous year, is based on 91.1% of surveyed residents expressing high satisfaction levels.\n\nCNN's list of the world's 18 best metro systems featured Seoul for its cleanliness, safety, and cutting-edge features. This remarkable achievement is the result of decades of significant investment in infrastructure, particularly focusing on passenger safety, accessibility, and digital convenience.\n\nA key component in Seoul's safety record is its universal platform screen door network. This system, which was introduced by Mayor Oh Se-hoon during his first term, involved the installation of glass barriers at all 262 stations on Lines 1 through 8 by the year 2009.",
  "summary": "When international travelers step onto a Seoul subway train platform, they are often struck by the lack of trash on the floor, delayed trains or dead zones on their smartphones. That seamless efficiency has now earned the Korean capital top honors in two major international transit rankings. British lifestyle media outlet \"Time Out\" placed the Korean capital fifth in its 2026 global transit…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}