Asan Mayor Park Kyung-gwi Halts GTX-C Extension... Orders Feasibility Analysis

"SRT, KTX and Other High-Speed Rail Lines Do Not Bring Significant Benefits"

Park Kyung-gwi, Mayor of Asan City, has ordered an independent feasibility analysis of the 수도권광역급행철도 (GTX)-C line, putting the brakes on the extension of the GTX-C line.

The GTX-C line is a project connecting a 74.8 km section from Deokjeong Station in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province to Suwon. The government plans to extend the line northward by 9.6 km from Deokjeong Station to Dongducheon Station and southward by 55.6 km from Suwon Station to Cheonan Station.

The plan to extend to Cheonan Station was a campaign pledge of President Yoon Seok-yeol in 2022, and Governor Kim Tae-heum of Chungnam pledged an additional 14.3 km extension to Onyangoncheon Station, creating a favorable atmosphere for the extension of the GTX-C line to Cheonan and Asan.

Regarding this, Mayor Park Kyung-gwi stated at the expanded executive meeting held on the 2nd, “Although this project is being promoted as a pledge of the President and the Governor of Chungnam, we need to consider how efficient the GTX-C line extension to Asan Station and Onyangoncheon Station would actually be,” adding, “The construction cost is expected to exceed 90 billion KRW, and the annual operating cost could reach 7 billion KRW. Since Asan already has high-speed rail lines such as SRT and KTX, the benefits from the GTX line may not be significant.”

He continued, “In this situation, we cannot easily decide on a project that requires enormous costs just because it is a pledge of the Governor of Chungnam,” and instructed, “The responsible department should analyze the efficiency and economic feasibility based on expert opinions to enable rational decision-making.”