Gwangju-Naju Metropolitan Railway Plan to Pass Through Hyocheon Station Falls Through

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Notifies "Route Change Not Possible" in November Last Year
City Says, "Will Discuss with Government During Planning Stage After Pre-Feasibility Study"

Gwangju~Naju Metropolitan Railroad. Yonhap News

The plan for the Gwangju-Jeonnam Naju metropolitan railway to pass through Hyocheon Station, which Gwangju City has been actively promoting, has effectively been scrapped.

According to the city on the 23rd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport notified Gwangju City via an official document in November last year that “the route cannot be changed to pass through Gwangju Hyocheon Station.”

This means the ministry did not accept the city’s request to halt the ongoing preliminary feasibility study (hereafter referred to as “pre-feasibility study”) that excludes Hyocheon Station. The city had previously submitted its own analysis of the cost-benefit (B/C) and average speed resulting from the route change to include Hyocheon Station, and requested a halt to the pre-feasibility study based on the findings.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reportedly expressed reluctance, citing concerns that including Hyocheon Station would lower the average speed and extend the project timeline. According to an analysis by a professional agency commissioned by the ministry, the average speed would be 57.6 km/h if the project proceeds as originally planned, but would drop below 50 km/h if the route is altered to include Hyocheon Station. In addition, changing the route design would increase project costs.

Currently, a pre-feasibility study is underway for a 26.46 km double-track electric railway connecting Gwangju Sangmu Station, Naju Nampyeong-eup, Naju Innovation City, and KTX Naju Station, excluding Hyocheon Station. The results are expected to be released in June.

If there are no route changes such as passing through Hyocheon Station after the pre-feasibility study, the project is scheduled to begin construction in 2029 following the establishment of a basic plan and detailed design.

The city plans to continue discussions with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the possibility of changing the route to include Hyocheon Station after the pre-feasibility study, but the outcome remains uncertain.

An official from Gwangju City stated, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport determined that the verification of the B/C analysis regarding the route change was insufficient,” and added, “We will discuss the possibility of including Hyocheon Station again with the ministry during the basic planning stage after the pre-feasibility study.”

The Gwangju-Naju metropolitan railway is a national project included in the 4th National Rail Network Plan (2021-2025) with an estimated project cost of 1.5192 trillion won. The city has argued that the current proposed route does not benefit citizens and has demanded a route change to include the Hyocheon District.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju-Naju metropolitan railway has been a source of conflict between Gwangju City and Jeonnam Province over whether to include Hyocheon Station. Jeonnam Province has insisted on completing the pre-feasibility study first and reviewing potential route changes afterward to ensure stable project implementation, which has led to disagreements with Gwangju City.

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