Guri City Urges "Policy-Level Decision" on GTX-B Line's Galmae Station Stop

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Eom In-yong] Guri City reiterated the necessity of an additional stop at Galmae Station on the Capital Region Express Railway (GTX)-B line and urged a policy-level decision from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the private operator.

Mayor Baek Gyeong-hyun held a press conference on the 29th, stating: "The GTX-B Galmae Station stop is not merely a matter of an additional stop, but an issue involving the transportation survival rights of approximately 60,000 citizens in the Galmae area," and emphasized, "The unreasonable situation where citizens of the Galmae district and the Galmae Station Vicinity district (scheduled for completion in 2027) endure only environmental damage such as noise and vibration must be corrected."

During the 8th popularly elected term, Guri City has held multiple consultations with related agencies including the Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, vice ministers, the GTX promotion team, the Korea Railroad Corporation, the Metropolitan Area Broad Transit Committee, and private operators since October 2022, consistently raising the necessity of the Galmae Station stop.

In particular, during the GTX-B environmental impact assessment resident briefings and public hearings conducted from 2023 to early 2024, members of the National Assembly, provincial and city council members, and residents unanimously demanded an additional stop at Galmae Station.

Additionally, in 2024, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon visited the site and expressed willingness to actively cooperate. The issue is also included in the campaign promises of National Assembly Member Yoon Ho-joong during the 2024 general election and in President Lee Jae-myung's regional pledges for 2025.

Accordingly, the city initiated a preliminary feasibility study for GTX-B Galmae Station stop in March of last year and submitted the result of 'cost-benefit ratio (B/C) 1.57 based on shared platform method' to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in June of the same year.

Subsequently, in the Korea Railroad Corporation's feasibility verification study in December, the shared platform method showed a B/C ratio of 1.45, confirming sufficient economic viability and confirming no technical issues such as maintaining average speed, train operation, and signal systems.

In contrast, the separate platform method was analyzed to have insufficient economic viability with a B/C ratio of 0.83.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently stated that "it is difficult at this point and future reconsideration is necessary," citing that the distance between Galmae Station and Byeolnae Station is 1.5km, falling short of the inter-station distance standard in administrative guidelines, and the private operator's opinion against shared platforms.

In response, the city pointed out: "While bearing approximately 4 billion won in GTX-B construction contribution, residents are enduring noise and vibration damage from trains passing without stopping, and there are concerns that transportation services will actually regress when the Gyeongchun Line shuttle train is relocated after GTX-B opens."

Mayor Baek Gyeong-hyun stated: "As the Galmae Public Housing District and Galmae Station Vicinity Public Housing District are separately developed, structural limitations have resulted in the failure to establish broad transportation improvement measures, leading to citizen damage. This provides sufficient grounds for applying an exception to the inter-station distance standard."

He continued: "In 2026, we will continue to respond without giving up so that the GTX-B Galmae Station stop can be confirmed. Since the GTX-B Galmae Station stop is an issue to resolve transportation inconvenience for Guri citizens beyond party politics or political advantage, it can only be resolved when politicians from both ruling and opposition parties unite their efforts," repeatedly emphasizing bipartisan cooperation.