Opening of Chungju∼Mungyeong Section
Opening Ceremony Held at Mungyeong Station
On the 27th, Gyeongbuk Province expects that the opening of the Jungbu Naeryuk Line (Chungju~Mungyeong) railway will greatly improve residents' access to the Seoul metropolitan area and make it much more convenient for metropolitan tourists to visit Gyeongbuk.
On the 27th, Gyeongbuk Province held an opening ceremony for the Jungbu Naeryuk Line (Chungju~Mungyeong) at Mungyeong Station Plaza, attended by about 300 people including Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province; Baek Won-guk, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Im Eui-ja and Lee Jong-bae, members of the People Power Party; Kim Young-hwan, Governor of Chungcheongbuk Province; Shin Hyun-guk, Mayor of Mungyeong; the Chairman of the Korea National Railway; construction company officials; and local residents.
The Jungbu Naeryuk Line (Icheon~Mungyeong) has a total length of 93.2 km and a total project cost of 2.5482 trillion KRW. Construction began in November 2014 and was completed after 10 years.
The first train after the opening will depart on the 30th at 6:25 a.m. from Mungyeong to Pangyo on the KTX-Eum (10 stations) northbound line. Going forward, there will be 4 northbound and 4 southbound services daily.
The first phase, Icheon (Bubal)~Chungju section (54.0 km), opened in December 2021 and is currently in operation. With the full opening of the second phase, Chungju~Mungyeong section (39.2 km), KTX-Eum (EMU260) service from Mungyeong to Pangyo now enables entry into the metropolitan area within approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Additionally, once the projects currently in progress are completed?including the Suseo~Gwangju Line (double track 19.4 km) under detailed design, the Mungyeong~Gimcheon Line (69.8 km) under feasibility study and basic planning, and the Southern Inland Railway (Gimcheon~Geoje, 177.9 km) under basic and detailed design?the line will become a key inland trunk railway network running north to south from Suseo through Mungyeong, Sangju, Gimcheon, to Geoje.
Gyeongbuk Province is cooperating with Mungyeong City, Korea National Railway, and Korea Railroad Corporation to improve railway accessibility by reorganizing bus routes in line with train operation plans and is steadily establishing a connected transportation network linking Mungyeong’s representative tourist sites such as Mungyeong Saejae.
Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “Starting with the Icheon~Mungyeong railway, five railway lines in Gyeongsangbuk-do are scheduled to open by the end of this year, ushering in a new era of railway transportation.” He added, “By focusing on railway transportation to create new regional hubs, we will maximize the effects of population inflow through regional tourism, economic revitalization, and balanced development, and do our best to overcome the crisis of regional extinction.”
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