Seoul-Namyangju? Check. East Gyeonggi? Still To Be Defined

Now with the full support of Seoul, Namyangju, and the Ministry of Transport, the extension of Subway Line 4 from Danggogae Station (Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul) to Jinjeop Station (Jinjeop-myeon, Namyangju) shall be, as expected, delivered by 2019.

Pre-feasibility studies confirmed a project we already detailed earlier, most recently last year*:

"In a diagonal parallel to the Gyeongcheon Line (railway for Chuncheon), the 14.5 km extension from Danggogae will create three stations in the city of Namyangju: Byeollae (Byeollae-dong), Onam (Onam-eup), and Jinjeop (Jinjeop-eup). All three correspond to new towns, not to mention (see reminder) today's terminal itself, Danggogae Station, at the center of the future Sanggye New Town. I bet many inhabitants may feel more like in an extension of Nowon-gu than in a new Namyangju neighborhood: there's no direct railway connection to Namyangju city hall in Geumgok-dong, and Nowon Station with its city hall and attractions is just 1 to 4 stations away.

Sanggye, Danggogae, and Byeollae all lie along Deongneung-ro, an axis already very congested by traffic jams. The only road cutting through Buramsam (in its middle) became an important entry point into northeastern Seoul when the Seoul Ring Expressway was completed: located halfway between Uijeongbu I.C. and Guri I.C., Byeollae I.C. instantly relieved the saturated Toegyewon I.C. gateway. But the road was not dimensioned for that traffic, and turned into a bottleneck."

I positioned Danggogae, Byeollae, Onam, and Jinjeop on Seoul Village map, and as you can see, a stop in  Jinjeop-eup could be added (maybe near Naegok-ri,, between Byeollae and Onam):


View Seoul Village in a larger map

If you zoom out from there, you see how this Eastern New Town Line takes the Wangsukcheon valley towards Pocheon, not the greatest 'pull' to prolong it even further.

But again, the way new towns have been decided across the capital region never followed any grand, long term vision combining from the start urban development with transit solutions. For instance, it would have been so easy to plan an arch from Uijeongbu to Hanam via Namyangju and Guri, in order to build a strong vertical backbone for eastern Gyeonggi-do, and instead of weak horizontal fishbones sticking out from the capital, a sounder dialog with Seoul.
 
Note that this Eastern New Town Line, that has been on the map for ages, was not even mentioned in Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Master Plan. Now you know why I preferred the previous 'big picture' I added in my focus, where such hubs as Nowon-Sanggye appear more clearly (see "If you ain't broke, fix it: Seoul, Welfare and railways deficits").

Seoul Village 2013
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* see "Spectacular extensions of Seoul Subway Lines 4-5-6-7 ?" (April 2010), followed by "Seoul subway updates : gos, no-gos, maybes" (January 2011) and "Nowon confirmed as Seoul's northeast hub" (October 2012)

Spectacular extensions of Seoul Subway Lines 4-5-6-7 ?

Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do signed series of agreements to pursue the dream of a common "Gyeongin Megacity" : together, they already claim 25 million citizens and a considerable portion of Korean economy, but they are eager for more. More visitors, more businesses, and more infrastructures.

Rapid transit solutions, such as underground driveways and the GTX / Great Train eXpress, are under way to make most parts of the megacity accessible within one hour. Korea's first train line already linked Incheon (then Jemulpo) with Seoul* : Gyeongin Line (경인선) was built in 1899.

The extension of Seoul subway beyond city limits is another major project. Of course, all regional networks are already connected, but lines 4 to 7 would grow considerably :

. Line 4 : 17 km extension from Dangogae to Jinjeop-eup, a major New Town in Namyangju - note that Dangogae itself is to become the center of Sanggye New Town. As planned, the subway car depot shall move from Sanggye-dong, along with the Dobong Driving Center, giving way for the long expected establishment of Nowon Station area as Seoul's Northeastern hub (see 2006 focus on Nowon-gu). To me, this project will fly because all parties, and particularly Nowon-gu and Namyangju, are dying to see it happen.

. Line 5 : 11 km extension from Sangil-dong to Hasangok-dong in Hanam. That's beyond Circular Highway 100 at the Hanam InterChange with Highway 35, which also leads to Paldang Bridge (consistent with the recent extension of Hangang bike road). I guess this line would follow road 43, a densily populated axis. To me, all this depends on the merger project** between Hanam, Seongnam, and Gwangju. Hanam cruelly lacks a subway line, but decisions could take time.

. Line 6 : 6 km extension from Sinnae to Donong-dong in Namyangju, another New Town (Buyeong e-Dreamtown). And that's also beyond Highway 100, at Guri InterChange. This one could also fly, but there's already the Jungang Line (train), and the express train to Chuncheon will soon be inaugurated. I would rather recommend a vertical line across Guri and Namyangju, for instance from Sinnae to Uijeongbu, parallel to Circular 100.

. Line 7 : 33 km extension from Jangam to Pocheon, up North. Line 7 was already a quite long one (it almost reaches Bucheon), but this would open new horizons for Northeastern Gyeonggi-do and beyond. Clearly, the region wants to put this area on the map, to correct geographic imbalances in economic development... but who would support the investment ?

Stay tuned until the next announcements.

Anyway, I'm not keeping track of all new subway projects : that would be a full time job.

Seoul Village 2010

* actually at the beginning Noryangjin (thus the fish market), which back then didn't belong to Seoul but Siheung
** see "Gwangju completes Seongnam-Hanam merger"