Yongin and Gwangju Cities Sign Joint Cooperation Agreement for Gyeonggang Line Extension Railway Project

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Noh-hoon] Yongin City and Gwangju City, Gyeonggi Province, have agreed to jointly cooperate in extending the Gyeonggang Line railway from Samdong Station in Gwangju to Namsa in Yongin.

Baek Gun-gi, mayor of Yongin City, and Shin Dong-heon, mayor of Gwangju City, signed the "Joint Cooperation Agreement for Gyeonggang Line Extension (Gwangju·Yongin) Railway Project" at Yongin City Hall on the 5th.

The Gyeonggang Line extension is a railway project that will branch off from the Gyeonggang Line (Pangyo~Yeoju) at Samdong Station in Gwangju and construct a railway network connecting Everland~Yongin~Idong~Namsa.
The city had pursued inclusion in the 4th National Railway Network Construction Plan to expand metropolitan transportation networks centered on railways, but faced disappointment when it was designated as an additional review project in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notice last July.

In accordance with the agreement signed today, both cities will work closely to ensure the Gyeonggang Line extension plan is reflected in the national railway network plan and Gyeonggi Province's railway master plan, and will actively request it from Gyeonggi Province and central government ministries.

In addition, they will establish a working committee to facilitate smooth project implementation and provide administrative support, and will actively cooperate to enable private, business, and government participation. Along with this, they will jointly explore optimal alternative routes, linkages with other lines, and ways to enhance economic feasibility.

At the signing ceremony, the cities also adopted a "Joint Petition to Reflect Gyeonggang Line Extension (Gwangju·Yongin) Railway Project in Gyeonggi Province's Railway Master Plan" requesting the reflection of the Gyeonggang Line extension in the Gyeonggi Province railway master plan prior to the 5th National Railway Network Construction Plan.

The petition stated that there is a need to resolve the absolute shortage of transportation infrastructure due to rapidly increasing population inflow, rationally distribute the national railway network concentrated in the southwestern region of the Seoul metropolitan area, and expand metropolitan transportation networks through high-quality inter-regional railway transportation services, and urged the inclusion of the Gyeonggang Line extension plan in the Gyeonggi Province railway master plan.

Both cities plan to submit the petition to Gyeonggi Province by this month.

Baek Gun-gi, mayor of Yongin City, said, "By expanding the railway transportation network in the southern region of Gwangju City and the eastern and southern regions of Yongin City, which are railway-disadvantaged areas, we will resolve chronic traffic congestion such as on National Route 45, and through railway network linkages, we will not only improve accessibility to Seoul but also establish a metropolitan railway transportation network connecting to Jincheon·Cheongju (Airport)," and added, "We will actively cooperate with Gwangju City to ensure that the Gyeonggang Line extension railway construction project can be promoted at an early stage."