Hwaseong Special City to Build 'Circular Railway' Connecting Entire Region
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-seong] The Hwaseong Future Vision Committee's 'Circular Railway Construction Planning Task Force (led by Jung Moon-ho, former professor at Ajou University)' announced on the 7th that it plans to begin feasibility study projects for constructing a circular railway network connecting the entire Hwaseong Special City in the first half of next year.
The Task Force plans to develop an optimal circular railway route connecting major hubs in Hwaseong including Dongtan New City, Byeongjeom, Bongdam, Hyangnam, Namyang, Joam, Songsan, and Seoshin. Based on this, it will establish strategies for reflecting the national railway network construction plan and securing national budget to secure infrastructure for future metropolitan transportation.
To this end, the Task Force is reviewing domestic and international circular line construction cases and broadly expanding the scope through research on strengthening railway connection functions and diversifying new transportation methods. It is preparing an optimal circular network by maximizing existing railway construction networks and planned construction networks.
In particular, the Task Force will focus on minimizing construction and operation costs by connecting with the Seohae Line, Dongin Line, Gyeonggi Southern East-West Transversal Line, and planned extensions of the Shinbundang Line through Bongdam, Hyangnam, and Ujeong, as well as the Shinansan Line extension through Songsan.
Since Hwaseong City's target population for 2040 is 1.54 million and may exceed that figure, the Task Force plans to develop railway network construction methods linked to major development projects including the West Coast Tourism Complex, international theme park, dinosaur egg fossil site, and Songsan Green City. It also plans to actively incorporate measures to establish a metropolitan transportation system that can be more conveniently used by approximately 10 million tourists annually.
Earlier, Mayor Jung Myung-keun presented circular railway construction as one of five core pledges in the June 3 local elections to connect the entire city in a 30-minute travel timeframe.
The mayor at that time disclosed procedures for phased implementation of the circular railway including △2027 feasibility study projects △2028 route alternative analysis and optimal plan selection △2030 reflection in the national railway network construction plan and establishment of basic plan.
Meanwhile, the Task Force includes former Ajou University professor Jung Moon-ho, Korea National University of Transportation professor Kim Hyun, Korea Railroad Research Institute Research Strategy Division Director Baek Seung-hyun, Hwaseong City Research Institute Research Fellow Yeom Min-gyu, and Hwaseong City Railway Strategy Division Chief Kim Sung-gyu.