Request for Government-Led Project Designation to Expedite Undergrounding of Seoul Station~Dangjeong Station Section
Seven Local Mayors of the Project Section Unite and Sign Joint Petition
Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon) announced on the 11th that it signed a joint petition urging the designation of the ‘Gyeongbu Line Underground Project’ as a government-led project at the ‘Gyeongbu Line Underground Council’ held at Yongsan-gu Office.
The ‘Gyeongbu Line Underground Project’ is a project to underground approximately 32 km from Seoul Station to Gunpo Dangjeong Station, with an investment of about 15.0487 trillion KRW (as of September 2022).
At the ‘Gyeongbu Line Underground Council,’ seven local government heads, including Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, and the heads of Seoul’s Guro, Dongjak, Yeongdeungpo, and Yongsan districts, as well as Gyeonggi-do’s Anyang and Gunpo, which the project section passes through, voiced a unified demand for the designation as a government-led project.
The joint petition signed at this meeting is scheduled to be delivered to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon of Geumcheon-gu said at the meeting, “The Gyeongbu Line section’s undergrounding must be promptly realized by being selected as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s ‘Integrated Railway Underground Development Leading Project.’” He added, “This will lead to regional development in Geumcheon-gu, improvement of business activities in G-Valley, enhanced convenience for workers and residents, and ultimately contribute to national development.”
In October, the district prepared a ‘Basic Plan for Development of the Space Above the Railway’ for the entire 5.6 km section of the Gyeongbu Line passing through Geumcheon-gu in preparation for the railway undergrounding and proposed it to Seoul City. Reflecting local characteristics, the above-ground space was divided into three sections: the G-Valley section centered around Gasan Digital Complex Station and Doksan Station, the Geumcheon-gu Core section centered around Geumcheon-gu Office Station, and the Distribution Market section centered around Siheung Distribution Market.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced in October that five metropolitan local governments submitted a total of eight leading project proposals. The proposals included Seoul’s Gyeongbu Line and Gyeongwon Line, Busan’s Gyeongbu Line, the joint Gyeongin Line of Incheon and Gyeonggi-do, Daejeon’s Daejeon Marshalling Yard and Daejeon Station, and Gyeonggi-do’s Gyeongbu Line and Ansan Line.
Based on the submitted project proposals, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to announce the first leading project sites by the end of this year after procedures such as document evaluation and on-site evaluation. The selection criteria for leading projects include the necessity of project promotion, feasibility, rationality of railway undergrounding plans and development plans, project feasibility, and project effects.
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