Seoul Subway First and Last Train Times: Gangnam, Hongdae, Myeongdong, Itaewon, Jamsil and Incheon Airport Line by Line, and the Night Buses After Midnight

Last updated: September 2026

The Seoul subway is not 24 hours, and the hour when it stops is the one thing about it that visitors search for most and find least. Every English guide says "about 05:30 to midnight," which is true of the network and wrong about your station. The last Line 2 train through Gangnam on a weekday leaves at 00:54 and it does not go around the loop; it stops three stations later at Samseong. The last train from Hongdae toward the city on a Saturday is before 23:50. The last Airport Railroad train that will actually get you from Terminal 1 to Seoul Station leaves at 23:39, and the express that costs ₩13,000 stops an hour before that. On Sundays and holidays every one of those times moves roughly an hour earlier.

This post is the table the guides do not have. The times below are the scheduled first and last departures at the stations visitors actually use, taken from Seoul Metro's published station timetables, split by weekday and weekend and by direction, with the destination of the last train, because the destination is the part that strands people. Then the airport line, Busan, and the honest options after the doors close: the N-numbered owl buses, the taxi surcharge that peaks at 40 percent from 23:00 to 02:00, and the ₩12,000 bathhouse.

A Line 2 train on the outer circle. After about 23:30 these trains stop circling and terminate at Seongsu or Samseong, which is what makes the last train from Gangnam a three-stop shuttle. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The last train is a phone problem: since March 2026 tourists can carry T-money in Apple Wallet, which means a dead phone at 00:40 is a dead ticket and no Naver Map. An Anker 10,000mAh power bank is the one thing this post can sell you with a straight face. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Guide: the last train, where you actually are

All times are scheduled departures from that station. Weekday means Monday to Friday; Friday has no late service. Weekend means Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, which run the shorter timetable.

Read the last column before the third. A 00:54 train from Gangnam exists, and it is useless if you live past Samseong. Seoul Metro's last trains of the night are almost all short-turns that finish at a depot, so the practical last train to a given destination is usually ten to thirty minutes before the number on the wall.

Is the Seoul subway 24 hours? No, and here is the shape of the night

Seoul's subway runs from about 05:30 to about 01:00 on weekdays, measured at the terminals. Trains leave the ends of each line at roughly 05:30 and the last ones leave the ends around 00:30 to 01:00, which is why a central station sees its last train in the 00:40s and an outer station sees it before midnight. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays the last trains run about an hour earlier: central stations lose their trains around 23:45 to 23:58. Friday night is a weekday night.

It was not always this tight. From April 2020 the operator pulled weekday last trains back to midnight for pandemic cleaning, and only restored the 01:00 timetable line by line between May and August 2022. In May 2025 the city announced first trains would move to 05:00 from that August, with last trains 30 minutes earlier to protect maintenance time; as of September 2026 the timetables have not moved, and the 05:30 first trains and 01:00 last trains stand. Check the operator's app in the week you travel, not a guide from last year, this one included.

Hongik University, Line 2, with the transfer sign to the Airport Railroad. The overhead screens on every Seoul Metro platform show that platform's first and last train for the day, marked 첫차 and 막차. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2024).

There is one display worth knowing about. Every Seoul Metro platform has a screen that shows that platform's first and last train for the current day, in Korean: 첫차 (cheotcha, first train) and 막차 (makcha, last train). Naver Map shows the same two numbers when you tap a station, under the timetable tab, and it also shows the last train's destination.

First trains, for the airport run

First trains matter for one reason: a morning flight. The first trains from central Seoul leave between 05:30 and 05:45, and that is early enough for an 08:00 departure from Incheon only if you take the airport line directly.

The Airport Railroad: two trains, two cutoffs

The Airport Railroad (AREX, 공항철도) runs two services on one track and they stop at different times. The express (직통열차) runs non-stop between Seoul Station and the two airport terminals for ₩13,000, 43 minutes to Terminal 1 and 51 to Terminal 2. The all-stop train (일반열차) stops at Gongdeok, Hongik University, Digital Media City, Gimpo Airport and the rest, costs a normal transit fare of around ₩4,000 to ₩4,800 with a T-money card, and takes about an hour.

Terminal 1's Airport Railroad station. The express from here stops at 22:48; the all-stop train runs until 23:39. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The 23:39 all-stop departure from Terminal 1 is the number to write down. Flights from the United States and Europe land at Incheon between 15:00 and 19:00 in most cases, but the late bank from Southeast Asia and the delayed ones arrive after 23:00, and at that point the railway is closed and the choice is the airport night bus or a taxi.

Busan, since you will ask

Busan's metro keeps a similar shape with earlier last trains. At Busan Station on Line 1 the last trains leave at 23:49 northbound and 00:12 southbound (a short turn to Sinpyeong), and the first at 05:26 to 05:49. At Seomyeon, the city's central interchange, Line 1's last trains leave between 23:44 and 00:00 and Line 2's between 23:44 and 00:16, with first trains from 05:26. Busan Transportation Corporation publishes one timetable rather than a weekday and weekend pair, so treat those as the everyday numbers and confirm in the app if you are travelling on a holiday. Daegu and Incheon's metros end in the same window.

Jamsil, Line 2, with the Line 8 transfer. The last inner-loop train here on a weekday leaves at 00:54 and ends at Samseong. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (2024).

Why the last train does not go where you think

Three habits of the Seoul timetable catch visitors, and none of them is on the network map.

Short-turn last trains. The final departures on most lines do not run end to end. They run to whichever station has the depot: Seongsu and Samseong on Line 2, Sadang on Line 4, Hansung University going north, Gongdeok on Line 6. The destination is on the front of the train and on the platform screen, in Korean and English. If your stop is past the depot, the last useful train left earlier.

Line 2 is a loop that stops being one. The green line is a circle in the daytime. After about 23:30 the trains stop circling and begin terminating at Seongsu or Samseong, which is why the last "train" from Gangnam toward Jamsil at 00:54 is really a three-stop shuttle. If you are going from Hongdae to Gangnam late, the realistic cutoff is the last full inner-loop train, which leaves Hongik University before 00:35 on weekdays and before 23:35 on weekends.

Line 9 has two kinds of train, and the express stops first. The gold line's express trains (급행, red on the platform screen) skip most stations and their last runs leave earlier than the all-stop trains; on the Gimpo Airport end the last express toward the city leaves around 22:40 and the last all-stop just before 01:00. After 23:00, assume Line 9 is all-stop only and slower.

Gangnam, Line 2. The last train here on a weekday leaves at 00:54 and ends three stations later at Samseong. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2018).

A Line 2 car late enough to be empty. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2019).

After midnight: what actually runs, and what it costs

When the subway closes, Seoul does not. It runs on three things.

Owl buses (올빼미버스, N routes). Seoul's night bus network runs about 14 routes from roughly 23:00 to 06:00, numbered with an N prefix (N15, N26, N37 and so on), on the corridors people actually need: Hongdae to Gangnam, Dongdaemun to Sillim, Seoul Station to the north-east. They are ordinary blue city buses with an N on the front, they take T-money, and the fare is ₩2,500 with a card, a thousand won more than a daytime bus. The catch is frequency: 30 to 40 minutes between buses, so a missed one is a long wait on a cold street. Naver Map will suggest an N route automatically if you enter a journey after the subway has closed, and it will tell you plainly when nothing runs.

Airport night buses. Two owl routes serve Incheon Airport for the flights that land after the railway closes. N6001 runs from Terminal 1 to Seoul Station via Yongsan; N6002 was re-routed on 1 August 2025 and now runs from the terminals to Hongik University, Gwanghwamun, Dongdaemun and Cheongnyangni. Both are ₩9,000, depart roughly hourly from around 23:50 to 04:00, and are the reason a midnight landing is not a taxi emergency.

Taxis, with the surcharge clock. Seoul's standard taxi starts at ₩4,800 for the first 1.6 km and adds ₩100 every 131 m. The night surcharge is tiered: 20 percent from 22:00 to 23:00, 40 percent from 23:00 to 02:00, and 20 percent from 02:00 to 04:00. A base fare that reads ₩4,800 at 21:30 reads ₩6,700 at 23:30. Hailing works on the street when the roof light shows 빈차 in red; the apps are Kakao T, which now accepts foreign cards in its K.ride version, and the ordinary taxi rank at any station. Gangnam and Hongdae at 01:00 on a Saturday are the two places where a taxi may take a while; both are on owl routes.

The bathhouse. If you have missed the last train, are far from the hotel and it is raining, the honest Korean answer is a 24-hour jjimjilbang, where ₩12,000 to ₩25,000 buys a hot bath, a floor to sleep on and a 06:00 subway three minutes away. Our jjimjilbang guide explains how it works, and our Seoul safety guide covers the taxi rules for the airport run.

You might like: Seoul Safety Guide: Taxi Scams, Street Recruiters, and Etiquette

A Line 4 train bound for Danggogae. Line 4's last trains through Seoul Station and Myeongdong leave in the 00:40s on weekdays and before 23:55 on weekends. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The habits that keep you on the train

• Look at the destination, not the time. Naver Map lists the last train's terminus. If it is Samseong, Seongsu, Sadang or Gongdeok, that is a depot, not your stop.
• Treat 23:30 as the weekday warning and 22:30 as the weekend one. Anything after that needs the destination check.
• The airport express is not the last train. The 22:48 express from Terminal 1 has a 23:39 all-stop train behind it, on the other platform.
• Transfers stop earlier than trains. A last train on one line arrives after the last train on the next has gone. If your route needs a transfer after midnight, check both.
• Friday is a weekday, and the Sunday before a Monday holiday runs the weekend timetable. Korean public holidays on a weekday also run the weekend timetable.
• Carry ₩10,000 in cash and a charged phone. The owl bus takes a card; the taxi takes cards too; both apps need the phone alive.

FAQ

Q: What time does the Seoul subway stop running? Weekday last trains leave the ends of each line around 01:00 and pass central stations between 00:30 and 00:58; on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays about an hour earlier, so central stations lose their last train around 23:45 to 23:58. The last trains are usually short-turns that stop at a depot station rather than the end of the line.

Q: What time is the first Seoul subway train? About 05:30 from the terminals and 05:30 to 05:45 at central stations, every day. Seoul Station's Line 1 platforms see the first trains at 05:20. A 2025 plan to move first trains to 05:00 had not taken effect as of September 2026.

Q: Is the Seoul subway 24 hours on weekends? No. Weekend service is shorter, not longer. Owl buses (N routes) run roughly 23:00 to 06:00 every night for ₩2,500, and Seoul taxis carry a 40 percent surcharge from 23:00 to 02:00.

Q: What is the last AREX train from Incheon Airport? The last express leaves Terminal 2 at 22:40 and Terminal 1 at 22:48. The last all-stop train that reaches Seoul Station leaves Terminal 1 at 23:39. After that, the N6001 and N6002 night buses run to central Seoul for ₩9,000 until about 04:00.

Q: Does the last Line 2 train go all the way around? No. From about 23:30 the loop trains begin terminating at Seongsu or Samseong. The 00:54 last train from Gangnam toward Jamsil ends at Samseong, three stations on; the last full inner-loop train from Hongik University leaves before 00:35 on weekdays.

Q: How do I check the last train for my exact station? Tap the station in Naver Map and open the timetable tab, which lists first and last trains and the destination of each. On the platform, the overhead screen shows the day's first and last train for that platform, marked 첫차 and 막차.

Bottom Line

Seoul's subway closes, and it closes earlier than the guides say for the two reasons that matter to you: your station is not a terminal, and the last train is usually a shuttle to a depot. On a weekday, plan to be on a train by 00:30 in the centre and by 23:30 if you need a transfer; on a weekend, an hour before that. The airport line's real cutoff is the 23:39 all-stop train from Terminal 1, not the express. After that the city still moves, on N buses for ₩2,500, taxis at 40 percent over until 02:00, and bathhouses that will sell you a floor until the 05:30 first train. Check the destination, keep the phone charged, and the last train stops being a problem.

You might like: Incheon Airport to Seoul Guide: AREX, Bus, Taxi and Korean Jjimjilbang Guide: Sauna Etiquette and Tips.

Sources

• Seoul Metro station timetables (호선별 첫차·막차 정보, Seoul Open Data OA-15492), read station by station for Seoul Station, City Hall, Gangnam, Hongik University, Jamsil, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park, Myeongdong, Itaewon, Express Bus Terminal and Gimpo Airport via the metro-time-info mirror, September 2026; Seoul Metro Line 9 timetable for express cutoffs.
• Airport Railroad (AREX) express and all-stop timetables as published on the operator's station pages and in Trip.com and KKday's 2026 AREX guides; Seoul Station last-train notice (September 2024); Namu Wiki on AREX fares and journey times.
• Namu Wiki, "막차" and "첫차," on the 2020 to 2022 pandemic cuts and restorations and the 2025 first-train proposal; SBS and Hankyung (May 2025) on the 05:00 plan.
• Seoul Metropolitan Government on owl bus routes and fares and on taxi fares and night surcharges; Incheon International Airport Corporation and Airport Limousine on N6001 and N6002 (route change 1 August 2025); Korea JoongAng Daily on Apple Pay T-money for foreigners (March 2026).
• Busan Transportation Corporation station timetables via the metro-time-info mirror for Busan Station and Seomyeon.