Yangcheon District Mayor Lee Gijae Highlights Issues of Economic-Centered Evaluation System at Pre-Feasibility Study Reform Forum
Calls for Improvements to Prevent Disadvantage and Discrimination in Railway-Excluded Areas Under Current System
Focuses on Resolving Transportation Blind Spots with Projects Like Mokdong Line, Gangbuk Transversal Line, and New Sinwolsageori Station
Lee Gijae, Mayor of Yangcheon District, attended the "Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) System Improvement Grand Debate" held at the Press Center on the morning of the 7th, where he pointed out the problems of the current PFS system that does not reflect population growth factors due to large-scale reconstruction projects and actively proposed improvement measures.
The PFS System Improvement Grand Debate, hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, was held under the theme "Why is it difficult for Seoul's railway network to pass the PFS?" with about 150 participants including related autonomous districts, academia, experts, media, and citizens. The event sought ways to improve the system regarding issues in railway network construction caused by the current investigation methods, such as the recent failure of the northwest extension plan of the Shinbundang Line to pass the PFS.
The improvement measures proposed by Mayor Lee Gijae include: ▲the urgent need to establish a railway transportation network that acts as a lifeline connecting Seoul's outer areas; ▲the approach to public transportation should be from the perspective of transportation welfare rather than economic feasibility; ▲the current PFS criteria, which only reflect the approved portion of the project, should be expanded to include future demand factors such as population growth. In other words, he emphasized that to proactively respond to the rapidly increasing population and transportation demand due to future projects like the reconstruction of Mokdong Apartments, redevelopment in Sinwol-dong, and development of the Western Truck Terminal, it is essential to expand transportation infrastructure in advance by reflecting future demand.
In the case of Yangcheon District, preliminary feasibility studies are underway for the Mokdong Line, a long-standing local project, and the Gangbuk Transversal Line that crosses east to west. In particular, the Mokdong Line is a very important route running through the district, connecting a 10.87 km section from Sinwol-dong to Sinjeong-dong, Mokdong, and Dangsan Station in Yeongdeungpo District. However, at present, the PFS approval is delayed due to a lack of economic feasibility.
In response, the district has continuously made efforts, including multiple meetings with Seoul city officials such as the Mayor of Seoul and the Director of Urban Transportation, urging the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) for the prompt approval of the PFS, emphasizing the necessity of the light rail projects like the Mokdong Line.
Additionally, the district is actively supporting the start of construction of the metropolitan railway Daejang-Hongdae Line scheduled for 2025 through consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the project implementers. It is also promoting the establishment of Sinwol Sageori Station, an extension of the subway Line 2 branch, to resolve transportation blind spots in the Sinwol-dong area.
Lee Gijae, Mayor of Yangcheon District, stated, "Areas like Sinwol-dong, which have no subway stations at all and are subway wastelands, cannot receive good evaluations in the PFS economic feasibility assessment," adding, "I hope that this debate will serve as an opportunity for railway-transportation-deprived districts and local issues to be recognized as everyone's problem and that effective improvement measures will be prepared."
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