The extension of Subway Line 8, the 'Byeollae Line,' began its first train operation at 5:28 a.m. on the opening day, the 10th. The travel time from Namyangju Byeollae to Jamsil has been drastically reduced from 45 minutes to 27 minutes, which is expected to greatly improve transportation convenience for citizens.
That morning, Byeollae Station, which serves as a transfer station to the Gyeongchun Line, was somewhat quiet on the platform and inside the train due to the weekend.
A couple in their 30s who boarded the train with a stroller said, "We rode because we were curious since it is the first day of the Byeollae Line opening," and added, "Our home is 5 minutes from the station, and having a line that goes directly to Jamsil and Bundang will be convenient."
Passenger Park (67, from Guri City) said, "The extension of Line 8 was discussed about 20 years ago, and now I finally got to ride it," welcoming it as "a necessary railway network for the development of Namyangju and Guri areas." This line was proposed as the Line 8 Guri extension project under the 'Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Plan' at the end of 2000 and was promoted as the Byeollae Line extended to Namyangju.
At around 11 a.m. that day, at Donggureung Station, a train bound for Byeollae was delayed by about 2 minutes due to a screen door malfunction. Guri Urban Corporation, which manages this station, installed emergency stop buttons intermittently on escalators and deployed safety personnel to prevent accidents and urged passengers to be cautious.
The Byeollae Line took 9 years from groundbreaking in September 2015 to opening, with an investment of 1.3806 trillion KRW. The Guri-Namyangju section was constructed by Gyeonggi Province, and the Gangdong-gu section was handled by Seoul City.
The Byeollae Line was built over 12.9 km from Amsa Station on Line 8 to Byeollae Station. Six new stations were established along this section: Amsa Station Park, Jangja Lake Park, Guri, Donggureung, Dasan, and Byeollae. Notably, it passes through residential development districts in Namyangju and Guri, and offers convenient transfers to the Gyeongchun Line (Byeollae Station), Gyeongui-Jungang Line (Guri Station), Line 5 (Cheonho Station), Line 2 (Jamsil Station), Line 9 (Seokchon Station), Line 3 (Garak Market Station), and Suin-Bundang Line (Bokjeong Station).
Additionally, plans are underway to extend the line further to Uijeongbu, including Byeollae Byeolgaram Station, which allows transfers to Line 4.
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