"Why Did Busan Urban Railroad Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line Investment Rankings Fall Behind?" Strong Backlash from Gijang County

Jeong Gwan-seon tied for 3rd place in 2017... Gijang Line dropped from 5th to 7th place in 2017
Gijang-gun activates early urban railway construction TF team... Begins action against Busan City and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Busan Urban Railroad Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line Route Map.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan’s Gijang-gun has activated a TF team to expedite the construction of the Urban Railway Jeonggwan Line and Gijang Line, initiating actions for early construction.

Gijang-gun is strongly opposing the ‘Busan Urban Railway Network Construction Plan Amendment (2nd phase)’ announced by Busan City on December 22.

The investment priority for the Urban Railway Jeonggwan Line remains at 3rd place, the same as in 2017, and the Gijang Line, which was ranked 5th in 2017, has dropped to 7th place. Gijang-gun plans to respond with concrete actions.

In early January, Gijang-gun plans to visit Busan City and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to lodge a stern protest. Additionally, they have decided to operate the ‘Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line Early Attraction TF Team,’ with the county governor as the head and the deputy governor as the deputy head.

They intend to strengthen the cooperative system with the ‘Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line Pan-Citizen Attraction Committee,’ which was launched in September 2017.

Since 2012, Gijang-gun has conducted a pan-citizen signature campaign to attract the Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line, collecting about 116,000 signatures submitted to the government. They visited the Busan City Transportation Bureau in June last year and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee in October. Over the past eight years, they have visited related agencies more than 160 times, including the National Assembly, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Transportation, and Korea Institute of Research and Development, putting all efforts into attracting the urban railway.

Regarding the Gijang Line, it was included in the Busan Urban Railway Basic Plan in 2012 and selected as a preliminary feasibility study project by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in 2013. However, in March 2017, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s KDI final review concluded that it lacked economic feasibility and did not pass the threshold.

The Jeonggwan Line was announced as part of the Busan Urban Railway Network Construction Plan in 2017 and passed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s investment review in April 2018, but was stranded at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s project selection advisory meeting in June 2018.

Gijang-gun argues that the project’s feasibility was not properly reviewed because factors such as the rapidly increasing local population, social environmental changes due to urban infrastructure development and expansion, and the geographical characteristics of the nuclear power plant site were not considered at all.

They point out that the increase in traffic demand from Ilgwang New Town, which began occupancy this year, along with the development of the Jangan Residential District, the Southeast Radiation Medical and Scientific Industrial Complex, the export-type new research reactor, the heavy ion accelerator treatment center, the Busan Comprehensive Imaging Center, and the Korean Baseball Hall of Fame, which are being established one after another, increasing the floating population related to industry, medical care, tourism, and sports, has not been reflected.

Gijang-gun explains that the expected demand for urban railway use has also increased compared to previous surveys.

The Urban Railway Gijang Line is a route extending Busan Urban Railway Line 4 to Gijang-eup and Ilgwang New Town, connecting Gijang-gun and Busan City. It has a total length of 7.1 km (5 stations) from Anpyeong Station to Ilgwang New Town, with a project cost of 372.1 billion KRW.

The Urban Railway Jeonggwan Line has been merged with the Sinjeong Line (Nopo~Jeonggwan Wolpyeong) and renamed the Nopo-Jeonggwan Line. The ‘Nopo-Jeonggwan Line’ was originally a route connecting the Sinjeong Line (Nopo~Jeonggwan Wolpyeong) and the Nopo Line, a tram line with a total length of 22.97 km (22 stations) from Nopo Station on Urban Railway Line 1 to Wolpyeong, Jeonggwan New Town, and Jwacheon Station, with a project cost of 542.6 billion KRW.

The Jeonggwan Line improves accessibility to Busan’s downtown area through transfer at Jwacheon Station on the Donghae Line and expands the metropolitan transportation network.

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

Oh Gyu-seok, Gijang-gun governor, expressed disappointment and frustration with Busan City’s urban railway administration, which he called a typical rubber ruler ignoring Gijang-gun’s reality, regarding the delay in urban railway construction. He pointed out that the Ministry of Strategy and Finance recognized the necessity and urgency of the Gijang Line project when it was promoted in 2013.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance was also reportedly in favor of early connection of the Gijang Line as a missing link in Urban Railway Line 4 to establish a complete urban railway loop network for Busan City.

Gijang-gun believes that according to Busan City’s plan, the Urban Railway Jeonggwan Line and Gijang Line cannot even expect to start construction within the next 20 years.

Governor Oh Gyu-seok asserted, “The Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line are the only large-scale transportation means that can enable rapid evacuation in the event of a nuclear power plant accident. They are the only lifeline that will protect the safety and lives of Gijang residents and 3.4 million Busan citizens.”

Governor Oh emphasized, “The residents of Gijang-gun, living in the world’s largest nuclear power plant cluster area, have endured sacrifice and hardship for over 40 years, cooperating as a national power supply base. Now it is time for Busan City and the central government to step up and provide compensation. The start of this is the Urban Railway Gijang Line and Jeonggwan Line.”

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