Government "Accelerating 3 Major Transportation Strategies Including GTX-B Construction Start in First Half"

Joint Safety Drill and Partial Opening of GTX-A Next Month
Approval of GTX-B Yongsan~Sangbong Section Implementation Plan
Gimpo Gold Line Congestion ↓... Vehicle Increase in June

This year, in the first half, the Metropolitan Area Express Railway (GTX) Line B will break ground. The government has also rolled up its sleeves to improve the underground railway project and metropolitan transportation in new towns within the year.

On the morning of the 26th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport discussed follow-up measures for the ‘Three Major Innovation Strategies in the Transportation Sector’ at an emergency economic ministers' meeting held via video at the Government Seoul Office and Government Sejong Office. Previously, on the 25th of last month, the Ministry announced three major strategies?speed, residential environment, and spatial innovation?for the ‘30-minute commute era’ at a transportation sector public discussion.

The meeting was arranged to review the situation about a month after the public discussion and to discuss short-term plans through the first half of this year. Attendees included Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance; Bang Ki-seon, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination; and Baek Won-guk, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Among the three strategies, the core project for speed innovation, the full-scale implementation of GTX, accelerated the project progress of Line B following Line A. The environmental impact assessment review for the fiscal section of Line B was completed on the 8th of this month, and the implementation plan for the Yongsan?Sangbong section will be approved early next month. For the private investment section, the review of the private investment business agreement will proceed on the 27th. Through this, the Ministry aims to start construction on the entire section in the first half of this year.

Regarding Line C, the Ministry reported that after the groundbreaking ceremony on the 25th of last month, biweekly progress management meetings are being held to ensure timely opening in 2028. Line A’s Suseo?Dongtan section entered operational testing on the 23rd and is preparing for a government joint safety drill aiming for opening by the end of next month.

For the extension projects of the second phase GTX Lines A, B, and C, memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for win-win cooperation have been signed with local governments such as Gyeonggi Province and Chungnam Province for Lines A and C extensions. Negotiations are underway with Gapyeong County and Chuncheon City for the extension of Line B. New Lines D, E, and F are preparing for regional local government and industry briefings as the first step toward inclusion in the ‘5th National Railway Network Plan.’

The Ministry is also conducting preliminary feasibility studies for the Daegu?Gyeongbuk New Airport Metropolitan Express Railway as a leading project for local metropolitan express railways (x-TX). The Chungcheong region Metropolitan Express Railway (CTX) will request a private investment eligibility review in April.

Residential environment innovation will be realized through improvements in metropolitan transportation in new towns. The Ministry is accelerating the establishment of short-term measures by region for new towns in the metropolitan area. As a follow-up to congestion relief measures for the Gimpo Gold Line, procedures are underway to open a total of four metropolitan bus routes in May and June, and mainline running tests are being conducted for additional Gimpo Gold Line vehicles (six trainsets to be sequentially introduced from June).

Baek Won-guk, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We plan to form a task force (TF) to implement 32 concentrated investment projects worth a total of 7.4 trillion won by region in the metropolitan area and finalize detailed schedules and investment plans by June." He added, "We are also promoting revisions to the ‘Metropolitan Transportation Act’ and subordinate laws to fundamentally improve the repeated delays in supplying metropolitan transportation facilities in new towns."

Spatial innovation will be realized through underground railway and road projects. For leading projects, selections will be made from highly complete sections proposed by local governments within the year. The Ministry will also officially begin establishing a comprehensive plan for integrated underground railway development from next month and distribute guidelines within the first half of the year to help local governments design and propose integrated underground railway development projects well.

To establish the comprehensive plan thoroughly, a governance structure involving public institutions, research institutes, academia, and financial institutions will be built, and regional cooperation bodies for communication with local governments will be fully operational from next month. Vice Minister Baek said, "Infrastructure projects such as metropolitan express railways, metropolitan transportation in new towns, and underground railway projects attract high public interest, so they must be promoted swiftly to enhance public perception." He added, "We will actively check anticipated risks and strengthen progress management to ensure projects proceed according to schedule."

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