Assemblyman Heo Jong-sik "Increase Budget for Seoul Line 7 Cheongna Extension and Gyeongin Expressway Underground Project"

Seoul Subway Line 7 Incheon Cheongna Extension Route Map [Provided by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The budget for resolving transportation issues in the Incheon area, such as the extension of Seoul Subway Line 7 to Cheongna and the undergrounding of the Gyeongin Expressway, was significantly increased by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.

Along with this, the budget for purchasing KTX high-speed train vehicles departing from Incheon, which the People Power Party had demanded to be fully cut, was also preserved, giving momentum to the promotion of Incheon's key transportation projects.

Heo Jongsik, a member of the Budget and Accounts Subcommittee of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and a Democratic Party lawmaker representing Incheon Dong-gu Michuhol-gu Gap, announced on the 24th that the budget plan including these details was approved at the plenary meeting after preliminary review from the 14th to the 16th.

Among the Incheon transportation projects discussed in the subcommittee, Representative Heo secured an increase of 20 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW for the extension of Seoul Subway Line 7 to Cheongna, 400 million KRW for the design of the undergrounding of the Gyeongin Expressway, and 9.6 billion KRW for Incheon-originating KTX infrastructure.

The extension of Seoul Subway Line 7 to Cheongna was increased by 10 billion KRW from the original government proposal of 95.4 billion KRW to 105.4 billion KRW. With the construction of a medical complex, dome baseball stadium, shopping center, financial town, and Robot Land in Cheongna International City, improving transportation conditions is necessary. Representative Heo's demand for additional national funding to achieve next year's target progress rate (30.61%) was reflected.

A new 400 million KRW feasibility study service fee was also established for the design of the Gyeongin Expressway undergrounding project. This project involves undergrounding the section from Namcheongna IC to Sinwol IC (19.3 km) of the Gyeongin Expressway, which is expected to alleviate congestion on the expressway and improve accessibility to Seoul.

The Incheon-originating KTX infrastructure project saw a 9.6 billion KRW increase to promote full-scale implementation from next year, raising the project cost from the original 63.2 billion KRW to 72.8 billion KRW. By directly connecting the Suin Line and the KTX Gyeongbu Line, the high-speed rail service beneficiary area in the southwestern metropolitan area, including Incheon, is planned to expand.

Meanwhile, preserving the budget for purchasing KTX high-speed train vehicles departing from Incheon, which the People Power Party had demanded to be fully cut, is also considered an achievement.

Previously, a People Power Party member of the Budget Subcommittee demanded a full cut of 42.33 billion KRW for the purchase of railway transport vehicles. This corresponds to the budget for purchasing 17 sets of distributed power high-speed train vehicles (EMU-320) to be deployed for the Incheon-originating KTX (2 sets) and the Pyeongtaek-Osong double-track project (15 sets) scheduled for order this year.

For the Incheon-originating KTX 2 sets, only 3 out of 5 sets planned for 2025 have been secured due to last year's failed bidding, making normal opening uncertain without temporary measures. If the vehicles are ordered within this year, 2 new high-speed train sets will be introduced in November 2026, but if the budget is cut, this timing will be further delayed.

Representative Heo said, "I will continue to ensure that the Incheon transportation budget secured through the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's Budget Subcommittee is also reflected in the National Assembly's Budget Committee review. However, it is regrettable that while frontline local governments such as Seoul, Busan, and Daegu requested budget inclusion for urban railway aging facility improvement projects and some were accepted, Incheon City did not even make a request."

The budget plan approved this time by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee will be finalized after review and approval by the National Assembly's Special Budget Committee subcommittee and passage in the plenary session of the National Assembly.

Heo Jong-sik, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker

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