Promotion of Increased Suin-Bundang Line Service Between Wangsimni Station and Cheongnyangni Station During Rush Hours

Limited to 9 weekday trips on Suin-Bundang Line between Wangsimni and Cheongnyangni Stations causes passenger inconvenience
Lee Byung-yoon, Chair of Seoul City Council Transportation Committee, urges "Single-track railway project must be pursued, and measures to alleviate ongoing inconvenience until project completion should be established"

Lee Byung-yoon, Chair of the Transportation Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (People Power Party, Dongdaemun-gu 1), announced that he will actively promote increased operation of the Suin-Bundang Line between Wangsimni Station and Cheongnyangni Station.

On August 16, Chair Lee held a meeting regarding the promotion of the single-track railway for the Suin-Bundang Line at the Transportation Committee meeting room of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, together with members of the Dongdaemun-gu Railway Issues Response Committee and the Cheongnyangni Suin-Bundang Line Promotion Committee, senior experts of the Transportation Committee, and officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Transportation Office.

The Suin-Bundang Line is a metropolitan railway operated by the national Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) and used to run up to Wangsimni Station. However, since December 2018, it has been extended to Cheongnyangni Station by utilizing the Gyeongui-Jungang Line tracks.

However, the operation between Wangsimni Station and Cheongnyangni Station is limited to 9 times on weekdays (one-way basis), so passengers using the Suin-Bundang Line at Cheongnyangni Station must first board the Gyeongui-Jungang Line and transfer at Wangsimni Station.

To resolve this inconvenience, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea Rail Network Authority) initiated a preliminary feasibility study for the single-track railway of the Suin-Bundang Line (Wangsimni Station to Cheongnyangni Station) starting December 2022, based on the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan (July 2021). However, since the economic feasibility was found to be low, they are currently reviewing ways to improve it.

At the meeting, Chair Lee said, “So far, the Suin-Bundang Line between Wangsimni Station and Cheongnyangni Station has only operated 9 times a day, causing inconvenience to passengers, and there is strong agreement on the need to establish new tracks. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government must join forces to push forward the single-track railway project to improve transportation convenience for citizens.”

He added, “To alleviate the ongoing inconvenience to passengers until the single-track railway project is completed, we will seek ways to increase the operation frequency of the Suin-Bundang Line, which currently runs 9 times a day, especially during peak commuting hours.”