Yeonghonam Provincial Governors Jointly Appeal for Inclusion of Dalbit Inland Railroad in National Railway Plan

"Shock and Despair Over Non-Implementation Despite Presidential Pledge"

On the morning of the 28th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, took a commemorative photo after announcing a joint appeal from six cities and provinces in Yeongnam and Honam in front of Geochang County Office, Gyeongsangnam-do, to include the Dalbit Inland Railroad in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan. From left to right in the photo are Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City; Song Sang-rak, Vice Governor of Jeollanam-do; Song Ha-jin, Governor of Jeollabuk-do; Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do; Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do; and Kwon Young-jin, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] On the 28th, six mayors and governors from Yeongnam and Honam, including the mayors of Gwangju Metropolitan City and Daegu Metropolitan City, held an emergency meeting in front of Geochang County Office in Gyeongnam and issued a joint appeal urging the President to include the Gwangju-Daegu Dalbit Inland Railroad as a new project in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan.

The joint appeal announcement event was attended by Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City; Kwon Young-jin, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City; Song Ha-jin, Governor of Jeollabuk-do; Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongsangnam-do; Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do; Song Sang-rak, Vice Governor of Jeollanam-do; Gu In-mo, Mayor of Geochang County; and citizens from Yeongnam and Honam.

Through the joint appeal, they stated, “We express our deep respect and gratitude to President Moon Jae-in, who has made extraordinary efforts to realize national balanced development and East-West harmony, which remain enduring aspirations and future tasks of our era,” adding, “Since the President promised the construction of the Dalbit Inland Railroad as a representative pledge for Yeongnam-Honam mutual cooperation, the citizens of Yeongnam and Honam have placed great expectations and hopes on it.”

They continued, “Since this is a matter pledged by the President and a representative and symbolic project for national integration through East-West harmony and balanced national development, the shock and disappointment of the citizens of Yeongnam and Honam, who believed it would definitely be reflected, are beyond words,” expressing deep regret.

They also said, “The government cited low economic feasibility (B/C 0.483) and project scale (4.085 trillion KRW) as reasons for not including this project in the current railroad network construction plan draft, but considering that it has been disconnected for decades due to political interests, how could a high B/C be expected immediately?” and emphasized, “This project should be approached from a future perspective of national grand unity and balanced development.”

They added, “We are requesting that the Dalbit Inland Railroad be included in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan, which contains the mid- to long-term railroad construction vision for the next 10 years, so it does not require immediate government funding,” expressing regret that “we have been discussing and waiting for over 10 years, but we cannot wait another 10 years without a promise.”

In particular, they stressed, “To achieve the goal of ‘connecting major hub cities within 2 hours by railroad,’ which is a key objective presented in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan established by the government this time, the construction of the Dalbit Inland Railroad is absolutely necessary,” and emphasized, “For achieving national policy goals, the Dalbit Inland Railroad must be promoted.”

The mayors and governors said, “We earnestly appeal, gathering the wishes of all citizens, hoping that the President will make a decisive decision to include the Dalbit Inland Railroad construction project, an East-West integration type railroad project, in the national plan.”

Meanwhile, the National Railroad Network Construction Plan is the highest-level statutory railroad plan established every 10 years, containing the national railroad network construction vision for the next 10 years. It serves as the standard for starting railroad construction projects and will be finalized and announced in the first half of the year after procedures such as agency opinion inquiries and review by the Railroad Industry Deliberation Committee.

The Daegu-Gwangju Dalbit Inland Railroad is a high-speed railroad construction project that currently takes 3 hours and 30 minutes by rail between Daegu and Gwangju but can drastically reduce the time to about 1 hour. The route length is 203.7 km, with an estimated total project cost of 4.085 trillion KRW, connecting six metropolitan cities and provinces including Gwangju, Jeonnam and Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam and Gyeongbuk, and Daegu, crossing the national east-west axis.

However, the Dalbit Inland Railroad was not included as a new project in the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan announced by the government on the 22nd.

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