Rep. Heo Jong-sik Proposes Special Act for Undergrounding Railways Including Gyeongin Line... Presents Funding Plans

A special bill containing specific commercialization and funding plans to underground urban above-ground railways such as the Gyeongin Line has been proposed.

On the 26th, Rep. Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea (Incheon Dong-gu·Michuhol-gu Gap) announced that he had taken the lead in proposing the "Special Act on Railway Undergrounding and Support," which integrates and implements the undergrounding of railways and the development projects of above-ground railway sites.

The bill allows the state and local governments to contribute railway abandoned sites necessary for integrated development projects to project implementers in kind, and the project implementers can issue bonds secured by the contributed sites to raise project funds. This converts administrative railway sites into general property by abolishing their designated use and allows raising funds for railway undergrounding projects by using them as collateral.

Since the undergrounding of the Gyeongin Line is expected to cost about 6 to 8 trillion won, securing funding is considered a key issue. The proposed solution to address the time gap between the input of undergrounding project funds and the recovery of development profits from the upper part is the in-kind contribution of railway sites and bond issuance secured by them.

The bill also includes a plan to allocate development profits to cover the railway undergrounding project costs. It stipulates that profits exceeding the normal land price increase generated by the integrated development project should be used for the railway undergrounding project.

According to the Korea Rail Network Authority, the railway site of the Gyeongin Line (Incheon Station to Guro Station) covers 1,476,000㎡ (446,490 pyeong), including 25,000㎡ of idle land. If an integrated development project is implemented utilizing surrounding land, it is expected to secure 1,653,000㎡ (about 500,000 pyeong) of development land.

Incentive measures for development projects are also stipulated in the special law. When conducting integrated development projects (housing site and urban development projects), restrictions on building coverage ratio, floor area ratio, and height can be relaxed, and support measures are prepared to guarantee profitability for private developers.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which included the railway undergrounding project as a national agenda, plans to establish a nationwide comprehensive plan after the enactment of the special law and then review project implementation by line, including the Gyeongin Line (Guro to Incheon Station), Gyeongwon Line (Cheongnyangni to Dobongsan), and Gyeongbu Line (Seoul Station to Dangjeong).

Rep. Heo said, "The Gyeongin Line is suitable for the railway undergrounding project as the average aging rate and floor area ratio of adjacent areas are about 80% and 186%, respectively, indicating significant aging and slumification, and the conditions for utilizing the upper sites are favorable. However, since competing lines such as the Gyeongwon Line and Gyeongbu Line have been raised, Incheon City must establish detailed upper development plans for the Gyeongin Line to be included in the priority projects."

He added, "Since the concession periods for Bucheon Station and Bupyeong Station, which are private stations on the Gyeongin Line, expire in 2029 and 2030 respectively, now is the optimal time to promote the undergrounding of the Gyeongin Line."

Democratic Party of Korea Representative Heo Jong-sik

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