Yoon vows 30-minute commutes for Seoul, surrounding areas
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a town hall meeting at Uijeongbu City Hall in northern Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Joint Press Corps
President Yoon Suk Yeol announced plans to expand the Great Train Express (GTX) high-speed train lines, Thursday, renewing his campaign pledge to reduce commuting times to the 30-minute range for people living in the greater Seoul area.
"Residents in major metropolitan areas nationwide spend a daily average of two hours commuting. In particular, for people living in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, the journey to and from Seoul exceeds two and a half hours," Yoon said during a town hall meeting in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province.
The event, held under the title, "Era of 30-minute commute," addressed issues such as traffic congestion in the metropolitan area during commuting hours and the insufficient transportation infrastructure in surrounding regions.
About 50 people from various regions participated in the meeting, along with transport experts and local government officials.
"With proper transportation infrastructure, people will be able to sleep more or spend additional time on self-improvement. Most importantly, it will allow them to spend more time with their families," the president said.
Participants attend a briefing organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport at an underground construction site of the Great Train Express (GTX)-A line under Seoul Station, Thursday. The railway, linking Paju and Dongtan in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is set to commence operations on certain sections in March. Yonhap
In that regard, Yoon announced plans to improve the transport system in the greater Seoul area, including the expansion of the GTX-A, B and C lines.
GTX is a high-speed railway network currently under construction that will connect central Seoul with regions in Gyeonggi Province surrounding the capital.
Unlike the subway rail system, where trains run at 30 to 40 kilometers per hour at an average depth of 20 meters underground, GTX trains run faster and will be positioned deeper below ground. Once constructed, they will operate at around 100 kilometers per hour at a depth of approximately 40 meters.
The A line, linking Paju and Dongtan in Gyeonggi Province, is set to commence operations in March. Construction of the B line, connecting Incheon's Songdo and Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province, will kick off in March, with service expected to commence in 2030.
Following their launch, the government plans to expand the GTX-A line to include Pyeongtaek, while the B line will extend further northeast to Chuncheon in Gangwon Province. The C line is slated for extension to Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province to the north and Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province to the south.
"Plans to extend lines D, E and F will be pursued concurrently," Yoon said.
"Once all GTX lines are commenced, trips from regions surrounding the metropolitan area to downtown Seoul will be available within the 30-minute range," he said.
As for other regions such as Daegu, Daejeon, Sejong and Gwangju, Yoon proposed to establish the "x-TX" high-speed trains which travel at a maxium speed of 180 kilometers per hour.
Then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol takes the Gimpo Goldline on his morning commute, Jan. 7, 2022. Courtesy of People Power Party
Yoon also vowed to introduce effective measures to ease the notorious congestion on the Gimpo Goldline – a two-carriage subway line that connects Gimpo to the Seoul subway network.
"When I took the Gimpo Goldline subway during the presidential campaign, I felt like I was suffocating," he said during the town hall meeting.
Transport authorities have implemented measures to alleviate congestion, including the introduction of shuttle buses. But these efforts have proven unsuccessful. The congestion level on the Gimpo Goldline during rush hours reached 210 percent of its capacity, when measured in September 2023.
The latest town hall meeting was the sixth of its kind, reflecting Yoon's commitment to enhancing communication with the public, focusing on policy priorities related to people's livelihoods.
Since the first event on Jan. 4, the meetings have covered various sectors, including the economy, real estate, semiconductors and deregulation. Yoon has attended all of them, except for the one held on Monday, which he had to skip due to a cold.