All-Out Effort to Include Route Passing Through Gangnam~Jamsil Area and Gangdong-gu
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) expressed deep regret over the announcement at the online public hearing for the 2nd Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Basic Plan (draft) and the 4th Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Implementation Plan (draft), hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee on the 29th, following the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan (draft) online public hearing held on the 22nd, that the GTX-D (Western Metropolitan Express Railroad) line will only be constructed on the section from Gimpo Janggi to Bucheon Sports Complex.
In particular, even citizens of Geomdan and Gimpo strongly oppose the Western Metropolitan Express Railroad line plan that does not connect to Gangnam, with fierce backlash including petitions to the Blue House and protests in front of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building.
Additionally, residents of Gangdong-gu had high expectations that the GTX-D line would be an alternative to resolve the population increase due to large-scale reconstruction, housing development, and business complex formation, as well as the rapidly worsening metropolitan traffic congestion. However, upon hearing the news that the plan will be drastically reduced to the section from Gimpo Janggi to Bucheon Sports Complex, they could not hide their disappointment, and national anger is erupting.
Gangdong-gu emphasized that the Western Metropolitan Express Railroad (Janggi to Bucheon Sports Complex) line cannot function as a metropolitan express railroad at all, and that a route passing through Gangdong-gu must be promoted to disperse demand on the saturated Seoul Subway Line 2 section from Sadang to Jamsil Station. They urged that the National Railroad Network Construction Plan and the Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Basic Plan, which are long-term plans establishing railroad projects for the next 10 to 20 years, should be formulated from a long-term and macro perspective.
So far, Gangdong-gu conducted a resident signature campaign from March to August 2020 to promote GTX-D passing through Gangdong-gu, garnering participation from over 100,000 residents. They also independently carried out a research project on the introduction of GTX-D in Gangdong-gu and have been proposing the GTX-D route passing through Gangdong-gu to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Since all three Gangdong-gu route proposals presented in the research results secured economic feasibility with a B/C (Benefit-Cost ratio) value of over 1.0, it was mentioned that securing economic feasibility without linking Seoul Gangnam area, Gangdong-gu, and Hanam City would be difficult. The district strongly stated that the GTX-D route passing through Gangdong-gu proposed by the district must be reflected in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan.
Furthermore, in early May, Gangdong-gu, together with Hanam City, visited the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transport Institute to protest, pledging to make every effort to ensure the GTX-D line connects Gangnam, Jamsil, Gangdong-gu, and extends to Hanam City.
Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, emphasized, “GTX is a project that connects the outskirts of the metropolitan area to major points in downtown Seoul within 30 minutes, resolving the serious traffic congestion in the metropolitan area. We will do our utmost to ensure that the Gangdong-gu proposed route is reflected in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan and the 2nd Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Basic Plan, so that it can fully perform the function of improving metropolitan transportation by connecting not only the western metropolitan area but also Seoul’s Gangnam and southeastern regions.”
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