Kim Dong-yeon Emphasizes Rapid Promotion of 'Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway' for Southeastern Gyeonggi Transportation Innovation

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon, on a civil economy field tour, visited Gwangju City as his 16th destination and emphasized his strong commitment to rapidly promoting the 'Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway,' a transportation innovation project for southeastern Gyeonggi.

Governor Kim held a roundtable discussion with local residents on the 10th at Gwangju City's Sinhyeon Administrative Culture and Sports Center regarding the 'Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway' project. After the roundtable, he visited the project site to inspect the project's progress.

During the event, Governor Kim stated, "I am well aware that our residents have a great deal of interest and desire for this Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway project. We have been proceeding quickly with the 2nd Gyeonggi Province Urban Railway Network Construction Plan, and if we proceed as planned, we should be able to complete coordination with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport next month," adding "We will do our best to ensure the plan proceeds well as scheduled."

During the subsequent roundtable discussion, local residents conveyed to Governor Kim the urgency of the Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway, noting that thousands of residents are leaving due to commute problems. Governor Kim responded, "I feel a strong sense of responsibility. I am concerned as you are about how serious the transportation problem is, considering that young people are relocating due to it."

He continued, "Among the various rail and transportation infrastructure plans the province is considering, there is none we are paying more attention to than this. This city's most desired project—which we are characterizing as a 'sweetheart bus' concept—is the Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway. As a former Minister of Strategy and Finance, I will do my best to find ways to shorten the timeline. Gyeonggi Province and Gwangju City will coordinate to proceed quickly."

In this manner, Governor Kim Dong-yeon directly mentioned expressions such as "quickly" and "rapidly" nine times at the site, strongly demonstrating his commitment to rapid project implementation.

The Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway is a route with a total length of 9.5 km that will connect underground from Pangyo in Seongnam City to Opo in Gwangju City, with a total project cost of 945.2 billion won. The project is drawing attention as a way to resolve severe traffic congestion on the National Route 57 (Taejae Pass) section and shift the transportation system of southeastern Gyeonggi to a rail-focused model.

When the Pangyo-Opo Urban Railway opens, travel from Opo Station to Pangyo Station will be possible in approximately 12 minutes, significantly improving transportation convenience for Gwangju City residents.

Gyeonggi Province conducted a project to develop the 'Gyeonggi Province Urban Railway Network Construction Plan' from September 2021 to December 2023, establishing the 'Second Gyeonggi Province Urban Railway Network Construction Plan (Draft),' and submitted an approval request to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in July 2024. Subsequently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport completed review by the Urban Transportation Policy Task Force in September 2025 and is proceeding through National Transportation Committee review in November with the goal of announcing by year-end. The province plans to announce the 'Second Gyeonggi Province Urban Railway Network Construction Plan' in December (beginning with a public hearing in December 2023) with smooth coordination with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which will shorten the timeline by approximately five months compared to the first phase (beginning with a public hearing in December 2016 and announced in May 2019).

Gyeonggi Province plans to actively support administrative procedures to ensure follow-up procedures such as preliminary feasibility studies proceed swiftly after the announcement of the urban railway network construction plan.

The event was attended by approximately 100 people including Gwangju City Mayor Bang Se-hwan and local residents, and proceeded in the order of promotion video screening on the Gyeonggi Province urban railway network, presentation on Pangyo-Opo urban railway promotion progress, resident roundtable discussion, and site inspection.