Early Advancement of Gyeonggang Line Extension Construction...Will Giheung-Gwanggyo Central Stations Also Be Extended?

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Yongin City, Gwangju City, and Anseong City have decided to work together to ensure that the Gyeonggang Line railroad extension project from Samdong Station in Gwangju to Yongin and Anseong is advanced early.

Baek Kun-gi, Mayor of Yongin, Shin Dong-heon, Mayor of Gwangju, and Kim Bo-ra, Mayor of Anseong, signed an agreement on the 17th at Mayor Baek's office to cooperate in promoting the early advancement of the 'Gyeonggang Line Extension Railroad Construction'.

In the agreement, the three cities decided to work closely to ensure the Gyeonggang Line extension project is reflected in the national railway plan and to actively request it from Gyeonggi Province and central government agencies. They also agreed to jointly pursue reviews of optimal alternative routes and linkage with other routes.

The three cities also decided to submit a joint petition to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requesting that this route be included in the 'Fourth National Railway Construction Plan' to promote balanced development of southeastern Gyeonggi Province, where a population of 1.65 million lacks railroad benefits, and to strengthen metropolitan transportation linkage.

In connection with this, Yongin City announced the results of the 'Yongin City Railroad Network Construction Plan Research Project' that it has been conducting for the past year, which includes the Gyeonggang Line extension route, prior to signing the agreement on this day.

In the research project established by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology consortium, the Gyeonggang Line extension, a general railroad, planned 12 stations over a 57.4km section, branching off from Samdong Station in Gwangju to connect Yongin and Anseong from the Pangyo-Yeoju double-track electrified railway, and confirmed feasibility (B/C=0.81). The benchmark for inclusion in the national railway plan is B/C ≧ 0.7.

The three cities decided to establish a collaborative system to ensure the Gyeonggang Line extension project is reflected in the Fourth National Railway Construction Plan (2021-2030) that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to establish in 2021.

Mayor Baek stated, "I am grateful to Gwangju and Anseong cities for participating in advancing the Gyeonggang Line extension route early," and emphasized that "when the extension is constructed, it will resolve chronic congestion on National Route 45 connecting southern Gwangju, eastern and southern Yongin, and Anseong, which are railroad-underserved areas, and will dramatically improve accessibility to Seoul's Gangnam area and Jincheon/Cheongju (airport)."

Meanwhile, on this day, Yongin City also received reports on research project results for two urban railroad routes including the Gyeonggang Line extension route and between Dongbaek-Shinbong and between Giheung-Gwanggyo conducted by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology consortium.

The Dongbaek Station-GTX (Yongin Station)-Seongbok Station-Shinbongdong new transportation system, which is also a Minseong 7 administration campaign promise, is being reviewed to construct 12 stations over a total of 14.4km and operate 2-train underground light rail, and confirmed feasibility (B/C=0.92).

Based on this, the city plans to request its inclusion in the Second Gyeonggi Province Urban Railway Network Construction Plan. If included in Gyeonggi Province's urban railway network construction plan and passes the preliminary feasibility study by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (comprehensive evaluation of 0.5 or higher), the project can gain momentum by receiving national funding.

This can be seen as standing at the first gate of urban railroad construction, which goes through multiple stages including establishment of Gyeonggi Province railroad network construction plan, preliminary feasibility study, master plan establishment, basic and detailed design, groundbreaking and completion.

The Giheung-Gwanggyo Central route underwent research as an independent verification before requesting a preliminary feasibility study from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance for the Yongin Light Rail Gwanggyo Extension Project (7km, 5 stations), which was already reflected in Gyeonggi Province's urban railway network construction plan in May of last year, and also showed feasibility (B/C=0.85).

Mayor Baek Kun-gi said, "Since the target routes in this research project have confirmed to have a certain level of economic viability, we will actively pursue related procedures to create a smart transportation city with convenient commuting and Upgrade Yongin."