'Gyeongbu Railway-West Sea Line Direct Connection' Daejeon, Sejong, Chungnam, and Chungbuk United

(From left) Heo Tae-jung, Mayor of Daejeon; Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province; Lee Si-jong, Governor of Chungbuk Province; and Lee Chun-hee, Mayor of Sejong City, are taking a commemorative photo after adopting the "Joint Proposal for the Connection of Gyeongbu High-Speed Railway and Seohae Line" in Sejong on the 15th. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region are joining forces to connect the Gyeongbu Railway and the Seohae Line.

On the 16th, according to Chungnam Province, Mayor Heo Tae-jung of Daejeon, Mayor Lee Chun-hee of Sejong, Governor Yang Seung-jo of Chungnam, and Governor Lee Si-jong of Chungbuk held the "30th Chungcheong Region Administrative Council" at the Singsing Culture Center in Sejong City the day before and adopted a "Joint Petition for the Connection of the Gyeongbu High-Speed Railway and the Seohae Line."

The joint petition urged the government to include the project connecting the Gyeongbu Railway and the Seohae Line in the "4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan."

Previously, in May 2015, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a plan to directly connect Hongseong to Yeouido by linking the Seohae Line and the Sinansan Line at the Seohae Line groundbreaking ceremony. At that time, the expected travel time between Hongseong and Yeouido was 57 minutes.

However, the Seohae Line construction project with such content is recently reported to have shifted direction to a transfer method of "Hongseong Station~Choryeok Station~Yeouido" instead of direct connection to Seoul due to reasons such as private investment projects. In this case, the travel time from Hongseong to Yeouido is expected to be about 90 minutes, nearly 40 minutes longer than originally planned.

Regarding the shift to the transfer method, the Chungcheong region is raising concerns about the marginalization of the Seohae Line. Unlike major nationwide railroads such as the Gyeongbu Line, Honam Line, and Gangneung Line, which are directly connected to Seoul, only the Seohae Line Seoul direct connection project, the largest pending issue in the Chungcheong region, is being excluded.

In particular, the four governors of the Chungcheong region emphasize the necessity of direct connection between the Gyeongbu Railway and the Seohae Line, estimating that the social loss cost due to the transfer method could reach 32.3 billion KRW annually.

They also highlighted that if the Gyeongbu Railway and Seohae Line are directly connected, the travel time between Hongseong and Seoul would be shortened to 45 minutes. Currently, to travel from Hongseong to Seoul, one must use the Janghang Line, which takes about two hours.

The four mayors and governors of the Chungcheong region stated, "Residents of the Chungcheong area have been looking forward to the birth of a new railway axis that will operate between Hongseong, Chungnam, and Yeouido, Seoul in just 57 minutes," but added, "However, recently, news that 'direct connection to Seoul is not possible' contrary to the original plan has caused a sense of loss and frustration within the region."

They continued, "The direct connection of the Seohae Line to Seoul is an essential project for the completion of Chungnam's innovation city and balanced regional development in the Pan Yellow Sea region," and said, "The four cities and provinces of the Chungcheong region actively urge the government to include the connection project between the Gyeongbu Railway and the Seohae Line in the '4th National Railroad Network Plan.'"

Meanwhile, the four cities and provinces agreed to discuss and mutually cooperate on four agenda items at the Chungcheong Regional Council: ▲ Establishment of a materials and components industry cluster based on the 4th industrial revolution ▲ Promotion of ecological restoration of the Geum River estuary ▲ Participation in coal phase-out (carbon neutrality) fund, among others.

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