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The scene of the commencement briefing session for the research project on the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu Line in Daegu City on the 15th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] On the 15th, Daegu City held a kickoff meeting for the research project on the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu Line to overcome the disconnection of urban living areas and noise and vibration caused by railroads in the city center.

The kickoff meeting was conducted with a presentation by An Jeonghwa, the chief researcher of the Korea Transport Institute. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Mayor and attended by the Director of the Economic Bureau, the Head of the Future Space Development Headquarters, the Director of the Transportation Bureau, the Head of Urban Planning, the Head of Seodaegu Station Area Development, the Head of Urban Regeneration, and related experts, who exchanged various opinions on the project direction.

This research project is being carried out with a total of 2 billion KRW in research funds fully provided by the central government through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea National Railway) since December last year. To resolve urban and transportation issues such as disconnection of living areas, urban planning imbalance, and inefficiency in the transportation system caused by the Gyeongbu Line and KTX passing through downtown Daegu, the feasibility of undergrounding the Gyeongbu Line will be prioritized for review.

The scope of the project covers the entire section of the Gyeongbu Line passing through downtown Daegu (from Seodaegu to Sawoldong, length 20.3 km). For the development plan of the upper area, a radius of 500m centered on the station will be used for station areas, and a width of 200m on both sides of the track (idle) land will be used as the standard, including direct and indirect impact areas for analysis.

Through a comprehensive plan such as establishing a master plan for the development of idle upper railroad facilities (stations and tracks), the project aims to create a "successful model for urban transformation" to discover campaign pledges for next year's presidential election and implement it as a national project.

Choi Young-ho, Director of the Transportation Bureau of Daegu City, stated, "Through seminars, surveys, contests, expert advisory meetings, and public hearings, we will enhance the feasibility of the undergrounding project of the Gyeongbu Line in downtown Daegu. As part of the Daegu-type K-New Deal policy, we plan to prepare a central government response strategy with the goal of discovering campaign pledges as early as next year."

Meanwhile, regarding the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu Line currently under research by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Busan, Daejeon, and other cities, the principle of cost burden by the responsible party requires related local governments to bear the project costs. Daegu City also faces numerous challenges to overcome in this regard.

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