Dongbuk Line Urban Railway to Open in 2025 as Originally Planned

Despite budget cuts for the Dongbuk Line urban railway project due to the COVID-19 supplementary budget, the reduction was for delayed compensation costs... Considering actual construction starting in November, there is no disruption to the goal of opening in 2025... Seoul City Councilor Song Aryang: "The permit process before construction must be thoroughly reviewed, and the opening should proceed as originally planned."

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] It has been confirmed that the Dongbuk Line Urban Railway will open as scheduled in the target year of 2025.

Seoul City recently reduced 73.3 billion won out of the 94.6 billion won budget for the Dongbuk Line Urban Railway project this year to secure funds to revive the local economy, which has been stagnant due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to Song Aryang, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Committee (Democratic Party of Korea, Dobong-gu District 4), this reduction was made due to delays in land compensation, and considering the actual construction start in November, there will be no disruption to the goal of opening in 2025.

The Dongbuk Line Urban Railway is a total 13.4 km route connecting Wangsimni Station in Seongdong-gu, Mia Sageori Station, and Sanggye Station in Nowon-gu, with 16 stations and one vehicle depot planned to be constructed.

The Dongbuk Line Urban Railway, promoted to improve transportation conditions in the northeastern area, had been stalled for over 10 years due to some construction companies withdrawing participation and compensation issues after the announcement of the “Seoul City 10-Year Urban Railway Basic Plan” in June 2007.

Then, in July 2018, a business agreement was signed with Dongbuk Line Light Rail Co., Ltd., the project implementer of the Dongbuk Line Urban Railway, and to expedite the project, approval for the implementation plan of the vehicle depot section was first announced in December.

However, the landowners subject to the vehicle depot acquisition won a lawsuit against Seoul City last year, which sought to cancel the approval of the vehicle depot implementation plan.

In response, Seoul City canceled the approval notice, supplemented the missing impact assessment, re-approved the implementation plan in January 2020, and started construction in February.

During this process, the landowners claimed that the remaining land, excluding the vehicle depot acquisition site, should also be acquired and compensated. Seoul City stated that according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport guidelines, if the remaining land is less than 25% of the total land, it can be purchased, but since the relevant land accounts for about 63%, expanded compensation is not possible.

Seoul City is considering compulsory acquisition rulings if negotiated purchase is impossible after appraisal.

According to Councilor Song Aryang, Seoul City is currently carrying out administrative procedures such as appraisal for vehicle depot compensation and relocation of obstacles.

While conducting impact assessments on buildings adjacent to the construction site, banners and temporary fences will be installed first in sections where occupancy permits have been completed. After going through approval processes such as traffic flow measures approval in August, pre-administrative procedures will be promptly completed by October, and actual construction is scheduled to begin in November.

Councilor Song Aryang said, “I will closely examine matters related to procedures such as traffic flow measure reviews, road occupancy permits, and relocation of obstacles during construction through legislative activities to minimize inconvenience to citizens caused by the Dongbuk Line construction.” She also stated, “I will do my best to ensure that the Dongbuk Line Urban Railway opens as originally planned so that the wishes of residents in the northeastern area can be realized.”