Seven Districts in Seoul Including Nowon-gu Join Forces for 'Gyeongwon Line Undergrounding'

Formation of Coordination Committee for Gyeongwon Line Underground Project by 7 District Mayors
Oh Seung-rok, Nowon District Mayor, "Will Maximize Development of Disconnected Areas and Resident Benefits"

Seven autonomous districts in Seoul through which the Gyeongwon Line (from Yongsan Station to Dobongsan Station, including branch lines) passes have joined forces to realize the undergrounding of the railway. Their immediate goal is to have the Gyeongwon Line reflected in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s (MOLIT) integrated railway undergrounding pilot project and comprehensive plan.

To have the MOLIT comprehensive plan reflect their efforts, the seven districts announced that on the 23rd of last month, they held a meeting of district heads at Dongdaemun District Office to form the “Gyeongwon Line Undergrounding Promotion Council.” The districts promoting the undergrounding of the Gyeongwon Line are ▲Yongsan ▲Seongdong ▲Dongdaemun ▲Seongbuk ▲Nowon ▲Dobong ▲Jungnang.

The representatives of the seven districts elected Dongdaemun District Head Lee Pil-hyung as the inaugural chairman to lead the Gyeongwon Line Undergrounding Promotion Council for two years. In the subsequent meeting, the district heads, including Lee, continued discussions on the “Proposal for the Formation of the Gyeongwon Line Undergrounding Promotion Council,” aimed at establishing a direction for the project through mutual exchange among the districts and devising a joint promotion plan for the undergrounding project.

For the railway undergrounding project to proceed, it is necessary to review the continuity of the entire section or a certain continuous section of the above-ground railway line. To this end, the districts belonging to the Promotion Council held working-level meetings with teams and department heads responsible for the Gyeongwon Line undergrounding project in May and June.

The core of the railway undergrounding project is to relocate the railway, which has divided the urban area, underground and to innovatively recreate urban space by integrating development of the railway’s upper area and surrounding regions. Since the enactment of the “Railway Undergrounding Integrated Development Act” in January this year, MOLIT has started research services to establish a comprehensive plan, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government and each local government are also promoting development planning services for the upper areas.

The district heads belonging to the Promotion Council stated, “Through this meeting of heads, cooperation among the districts will be strengthened, and momentum for the smooth promotion of the Gyeongwon Line undergrounding project will be gained.” They added, “Going forward, the seven districts will conduct in-depth discussions on the project’s promotion direction and council operation plans shared at this meeting, while also seeking ways to maximize the development of areas previously divided by the railway and the convenience of residents. They will also express their opinions to the Seoul Metropolitan Government to ensure the undergrounding of the Gyeongwon Line.”