Busan Gijang-gun, "Raise Investment Priority for Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line"

Proposal to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for Raising Investment Priority

Busan Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan's Gijang-gun has urged the Busan Metropolitan City to raise the investment priority of the urban railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line in the establishment of the Busan urban railway network plan.

Gijang-gun plans to visit the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and other agencies to submit this proposal.

On the 22nd, the Busan Metropolitan City held a public hearing on the "Busan Urban Railway Network Plan Amendment (2nd)". Since the establishment of the urban railway network plan in 2017, the validity of the urban railway network plan was re-examined due to changes in various conditions such as the development of the eastern and western Busan areas, implementation of various reconstruction and redevelopment projects, and changes in the urban transportation environment.

Compared to the plan announced in 2017, this amendment adjusted the names and investment priorities of the urban railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line. The investment priority of the urban railway Gijang Line dropped from 5th to 7th compared to 2017, and the urban railway Jeonggwan Line was merged with the Sinjeong Line (Nopo~Jeonggwan Wolpyeong), renamed as the Nopo Jeonggwan Line, with the investment priority remaining the same as 2017 at 3rd place.

Gijang-gun pointed out that the drop in investment priority for the urban railway Gijang Line is a plan lacking feasibility because it does not consider the rapidly increasing population of Gijang-gun, social environmental changes such as urban infrastructure development and expansion, and the geographical characteristics of the nuclear power plant location.

With the increase in transportation demand in Ilgwang New Town, which began occupancy this year, along with the development of the Jangan housing development district, the Southeast Radiation Medical and Science Industrial Complex, the export-oriented new research reactor, the heavy ion accelerator treatment center, the Busan Comprehensive Imaging Center, and the Korea Baseball Hall of Fame, the floating population related to industry, medical care, tourism, and sports is increasing, raising the expected demand for urban railway use higher than previous surveys.

Since 2012, Gijang-gun has conducted a pan-citizen signature campaign to attract the urban railway Jeonggwan Line and Gijang Line, collecting about 116,000 signatures submitted to the government, and over the past eight years, it has visited related agencies more than 160 times to make every effort to attract the urban railway.

However, in the case of the Gijang Line, although it was reflected as a route in the Busan City Urban Railway Basic Plan in 2012 and selected as a preliminary feasibility study project by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in 2013, it was unfortunately not selected due to lack of economic feasibility in the final KDI review by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in March 2017.

For the Jeonggwan Line, it was announced as a route in the Busan Urban Railway Network Plan in 2017 and passed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport investment review in April 2018, but failed to pass the Ministry of Strategy and Finance project selection advisory meeting in June 2018.

The urban railway Gijang Line is a route extending from Cheolma Anpyeong, the terminus of Busan Urban Railway Line 4, passing through Gijang-eup to Ilgwang New Town, connecting Gijang-gun and Busan City. The total length from Anpyeong Station to Ilgwang New Town is 7.1 km with 5 stations, and the project cost is 372.1 billion KRW.

The urban railway Nopo Jeonggwan Line originally connected the Sinjeong Line and Nopo Line, starting from Nopo Station, the terminus of Urban Railway Line 1, passing through Wolpyeong and Jeonggwan New Town, and connecting with the Donghae Line at Jwacheon Station to expand the metropolitan transportation network. It is a tram line with a total length of 22.97 km and 22 stations, with a project cost of 542.6 billion KRW.

Currently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Wide-area Transportation Committee is reviewing whether to include the Sinjeong Line (Nopo~Jeonggwan Wolpyeong) in the Busan~Yangsan~Ulsan metropolitan railway line in the metropolitan area wide-area transportation basic plan and implementation plan.

If this metropolitan railway line is included in the metropolitan area wide-area transportation implementation plan, it is expected to enhance the feasibility of the Sinjeong Line, ranked 7th in the 2017 Busan Urban Railway Network Plan, and accelerate project promotion.

The Sinjeong Line is expected to meet economic feasibility (B/C) and secure project validity by connecting the urban railway Jeonggwan Line with Subway Line 1 and the Donghae Line.

Oh Gyu-seok, mayor of Gijang-gun, said, "In a time when urban railways that can disperse transportation demand in the Gijang area are absolutely necessary, the drop in investment priority for the Gijang Line is unacceptable," adding, "I will actively work to promote the Gijang Line project, which is directly related to the safety of residents, including securing evacuation means in case of nuclear accidents in the nuclear power plant-dense Gijang area."

Gijang-gun also urged Busan City to join forces to ensure that the urban railway Gijang Line project can proceed with a higher investment priority.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.