"New Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line for Southwest Metropolitan Seoul"…16,000 Gwangmyeong Citizens Urge Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The voices of more than 16,000 Gwangmyeong citizens urging the establishment of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line have reached the government.

Gwangmyeong Mayor Park Seung-won visited the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building in Sejong City on the 29th with citizen representatives and submitted a petition signed by 15,990 citizens to Park Jae-soon, Director of Transportation and Logistics, requesting the swift promotion of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line.

Mayor Park stated, "The Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line is a key metropolitan transportation network that connects the southwest metropolitan area with Seoul's southwest region and disperses transportation demand in the southwest metropolitan area," emphasizing "The government should take seriously the will of more than 16,000 citizens and accelerate the establishment of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line."

The Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line is a metropolitan railway with a total length of 16.4 kilometers connecting Sincheon Station in Siheung through Gwangmyeong-Siheung 3rd New City and Haan-dong in Gwangmyeong to Doksan and Shillim in Seoul. It is evaluated as a key metropolitan railway network that will dramatically improve access to Seoul in the southwest metropolitan area, and is currently awaiting reflection in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 5th National Railroad Network Construction Plan.

Additionally, the city is also urging the promotion of a "Private Investment Project for Southwest Metropolitan Seoul Railways (tentative name)" that includes the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line as a major route for faster project implementation.

The private investment method can replace preliminary feasibility studies with private investment feasibility studies, allowing for reduced administrative procedures compared to budgetary projects. The policy is to increase the pace of project implementation by pursuing both the reflection in the National Railroad Network Construction Plan and the private investment project method.

On that day, Mayor Park also submitted a petition containing major transportation issues including ▲Stopping of general electric trains on the Wolgot-Pangyo Line at Hakan Station on the Sinan Line ▲Early promotion of access roads to Seoul from the Gwangmyeong-Siheung New City ▲National implementation of inter-Korean railways (Gwangmyeong-Siheung Line).

Mayor Park urged, "As explosive growth in transportation demand is expected due to large-scale development such as the Gwangmyeong-Siheung 3rd New City, immediate transportation measures to disperse and accommodate this demand are urgent," adding, "Please ensure that the principle of 'transportation first, then move-in' is upheld so that transportation inconvenience can be minimized."

Director Park Jae-soon responded, "We will carefully monitor at the working level to ensure that major transportation issues in Gwangmyeong, including the establishment of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line, proceed without disruption."

After submitting the petition and the petition letter, Mayor Park conducted a one-person protest in front of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building urging the establishment of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line.

Meanwhile, Gwangmyeong City organized a "Civic Committee for Promoting the Establishment of the Sincheon-Haan-Shillim Line" on the 2nd and launched civic-wide action to promote its establishment, including a resolution meeting. The signature campaign, which continued until the 18th, saw 15,990 participants, significantly exceeding the initial target of 10,000.