Gangdong-gu Firmly Opposes the Reduction of the GTX-D Line in the 4th National Railroad Network Plan

Disappointed by the confirmation of the Western Metropolitan Express Railway (Janggi~Bucheon Sports Complex)... Actively promoting the Blue House national petition and cooperating with related local governments to fully support the inclusion of the GTX-D route via Gangdong-gu

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) expressed strong opposition on the 29th to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's announcement of the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan, which confirmed the GTX-D (Western Metropolitan Express Railroad) line from Gimpo Janggi Station to Bucheon Sports Complex Station.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Western Metropolitan Express Railroad line was planned to newly establish the section from Janggi Station to Bucheon Sports Complex Station (the section beyond Bucheon Sports Complex Station will share the GTX-B line), comprehensively considering policy aspects such as economic feasibility by alternatives, total project cost, and national balanced development.

The reason for the route decision was announced as the plan to newly establish the section from Janggi Station to Bucheon Sports Complex Station being the most suitable in terms of project cost scale and economic feasibility. It was also based on considerations such as the additional project cost of 4.2 trillion to 7.3 trillion KRW required when pursuing local government proposals, and the balance of investment scale between the metropolitan area and non-metropolitan areas.

However, the district emphasized that the GTX-D line connecting only the western metropolitan areas of Gimpo to Bucheon does not function as a metropolitan express railroad at all, and excluding Gangdong-gu?which has been forced to sacrifice due to unilateral housing supply policies?from the target area under the pretext of balanced development between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas is discriminatory.

Furthermore, sharing the GTX-B line to directly operate through Sindorim Station, Yeouido Station, and Yongsan Station to downtown Seoul cannot alleviate the demand on the saturated Seoul Subway Line 2 section from Sadang to Jamsil Station, nor can it address the transportation demand improvement requests from eastern metropolitan areas such as Gangdong and Hanam. The district stressed that this route satisfies no one.

Gangdong-gu has conducted a resident signature campaign since 2020 to attract the GTX-D line, carried out a research project on the introduction of GTX-D in Gangdong-gu, and submitted interim and final reports of the project to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City twice in August 2020 and February 2021. They requested the inclusion of the GTX-D route passing through Gangdong-gu in the '2nd Metropolitan Area Wide Transportation Basic Plan' and the '4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan.'

After the announcement on April 22 at the public hearing for the 4th National Railroad Network Construction Plan (draft) that the 'Western Metropolitan Express Railroad' line would only be reflected in the 21.1 km section between Gimpo Janggi and Bucheon Sports Complex, the district actively demanded the inclusion of GTX-D 'Gimpo~Bucheon~Gangdong~Hanam' through press releases, protest visits to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in alliance with nearby local governments such as Gimpo, Bucheon, and Hanam, press conferences, and resident rallies.

On June 28, Gangdong-gu residents directly pointed out problems with the reduced announcement of GTX-D (Gimpo~Bucheon) and registered a Blue House national petition urging the connection to be restored to the original plan of Gimpo~Bucheon~Gangdong~Hanam. The district announced that it will promote the petition actively in solidarity with Gimpo, Bucheon, and Hanam cities to gather more than 200,000 supporters and resubmit the residents' will to related agencies.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s announcement of the GTX-D line drastically reduced to Gimpo~Bucheon is a short-sighted decision that nullifies the fundamental purpose of balanced development in the metropolitan area and improvement of regional metropolitan transportation.” He added, “Therefore, the district will unite with Gimpo, Bucheon, and Hanam cities and make every effort to ensure that the GTX-D line connects the western metropolitan area, Gangnam area, and eastern regions.”

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