During the 1960s, before the city had a subway system, Seoul suffered from severe traffic congestion, the result of rapid industrialization and subsequent influx of people. The municipal government of Seoul thus launched a subway project to lessen the traffic burden for the city plagued by horrible snarl-ups. The result was Korea's first subway line running through downtown Seoul. The city’s underground transport network demonstrated an amazing rate of growth since its opening and now there are nine subway lines stopping at roughly 300 stations and connecting to nearby cities and beyond.