"Risking Lives to Commute"... Angry Gimpo Holds 'Vehicle Protest' Over GTX-D Reduction

GTX-D Seoul Gangnam Connection Fails
Continuous Protests... "Prepare Traffic Measures"
Soaring Gimpo Apartment Prices Also Stall

About 200 members of the Gimpo Geomdan Citizens' Transportation Coalition, opposing the failure to connect the GTX-D line to Gangnam, are protesting on the morning of the 1st around Gimpo City Hall in Janggi-dong, Gimpo City, mobilizing around 200 vehicles. (Photo by Gimpo Geomdan Citizens' Transportation Coalition)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Residents of Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, who are strongly opposing the reduction of the 수도권광역급행철도 (GTX)-D line to the 'Gimpo~Bucheon' section, held a vehicle protest at Gimpo City Hall and its vicinity on the 1st.

According to Gimpo residents and the Gimpo Police Station, about 200 members of the Gimpo Geomdan Citizens' Transportation Coalition conducted a vehicle protest around 10:30 a.m. at Gimpo City Hall in Sau-dong, Gimpo City, and its surrounding area.

The approximately 200 vehicles mobilized by them displayed promotional materials with phrases such as 'Gimbuseon (Gimpo~Bucheon GTX-D line) OUT,' 'GTX-D Direct Connection to Gangnam,' and '(Seoul Subway) Line 5 Extension to Gimpo.'

The vehicles drove in a line for about an hour over a 1.8 km section from City Hall to the Health Center. During the protest, as citizens voluntarily joined, the number of vehicles reportedly increased to about 1,000, according to the civic group.

About 200 members of the Gimpo Geomdan Citizens' Transportation Coalition, opposing the failure to connect the GTX-D line to Gangnam, are protesting on the morning of the 1st by mobilizing around 200 vehicles around Gimpo City Hall in Janggi-dong, Gimpo-si.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Along with this, about 50 condolence wreaths with inscriptions such as 'Risking Life to Commute,' 'Killed Gimpo and Geomdan,' and 'Two-Car Hell Train' were displayed at the main gate of Gimpo City Hall.

A resident A, who has lived in Gimpo Hangang New Town for 10 years, said, "Other cities have several subway lines, but Gimpo only has a small subway built with citizens' transportation contributions," emphasizing, "If a new town is constructed, expanding transportation measures is the state's duty."

The reason for the strong opposition from Gimpo residents is that the GTX-D line, which was originally expected to connect Gimpo to Gangnam, has been virtually confirmed to only connect Gimpo Janggi and Bucheon Sports Complex. This plan was recently included in the metropolitan area wide-area transportation basic plan and implementation plan, spreading opposition within the region.

Previously, Gyeonggi Province requested a 68 km line connecting Gimpo, passing through Gangnam, to Hanam, and Incheon City requested a 110 km 'Y'-shaped line with Incheon Airport and Gimpo as terminals, but neither was accepted.

A worker B residing in Gimpo Hangang New Town said, "Among Seoul-adjacent cities with populations nearing 500,000, Gimpo is the only one without a direct subway connection to Seoul," expressing, "I cannot contain my anger over this decision."

The failure of GTX-D's direct connection to Gangnam has also somewhat slowed the rise in apartment prices in Gimpo. According to statistics from the Korea Real Estate Board, the apartment price increase rate in Gimpo dropped to 0.02% this week. Considering that the increase rate was between 0.19% and 0.24% until February before the wide-area transportation plan announcement, this is a clear decline.

There are concerns that as investors rather than actual residents continue to sell, housing prices may be adjusted in the short term. In the weekly apartment price trend survey by the private KB Kookmin Bank, the apartment price increase rate in Gimpo also shrank from 0.36% last week to 0.12% this week.

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