Busan train announcements are interesting

This post was originally written in Korean. You can read it in its original form here.

I recently visited Busan for the first time and the thing that interested me the most was the train announcements. Compared to Australia, Korea has a wide variety of different train announcements. In Australia, you only hear a voice when the train arrives. However, in Busan train stations, you hear various sounds along with the announcement. For example, there’s traditional music, waves and seaguls, and the sound of a ship’s horn.

If you’re heading towards Haeundae Beach, you’ll hear waves and seagulls before the announcement, and if you’re heading in the opposite direction towards Busan Port, you’ll hear a ship’s horn. So, if you’re unsure of the incoming train’s direction or can’t hear the announcement clearly, you just need to listen out for those sounds.

https://www2.humetro.busan.kr/homepage/default/broadcast/list.do#n

However, it’s not just the sounds for the direction. At stations where you transfer trains, traditional music plays alongside the announcements. I’ve heard that they use a different song in Seoul, but I haven’t heard it myself.

The stations at both ends of the underground line have a unique song, which differs depending on whether the train is arriving or departing. I’ve never taken it all the way to the last station, but I asked a friend who lives in Busan and he said that when the train arrives, women sing, whereas when it departs, men sing.

The announcements in Korea are really creative. I wish the Australian announcements were more fun, but I’m worried the song would get stuck in my head. When I was in Seoul, I kept humming the underground arrival song.