Seoul, Mar 11 (IANS): Seoul's reduced late night subway schedule will start normalising from next week, as social distancing rules have been eased amid the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, the South Korean capital city's government said on Friday.

Seoul subway trains have been running on a schedule down by up to 20 per cent after 10 p.m. since December 24, 2021, as part of efforts to stem the spread of Covid, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Lines 2, 5-9 and Ui LRT will be normalised on March 15, followed by Line 4 on March 19 and Line 3 from April, according to the city government, as anti-virus business curfews on restaurants, cafes and other multiuse facilities was pushed back by an hour to 11 p.m.

The capital city's bus schedules, which had also been scaled back in December, were already normalised this week.

According to the Seoul government, the number of subway and bus users fell by 50.9 per cent and 39.3 per cent, respectively, in the first week of February compared with the last week of October 2021 before the schedule was reduced.

The number recovered to about an 85 per cent level from before the schedule reduction after the government pushed back business curfews on multiuse facilities from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on February 19.

"The city government will keep monitoring the congestion level of subway trains and take anti-virus measures to create a safe public transport environment," Baek Ho, a senior official Seoul's transportation system, said.