KORAIL

Gyeongui Line & Jungang Line to Finally Connect

It’s almost the end of the year already! Living away from Korea and having a fairly busy job has kept me from blogging. Thanks so much to my co-blogger Nikola for helping to keep Kojects alive despite being busy with this own work.

Nevertheless I’m still keeping my eye on developments – particularly on rail projects – and to be honest it has been fairly quiet with not too many major happenings in the last two years. (Still waiting on that Maglev to open!)

Korail TrainOne major change coming up very soon is the final connection between the Gyeongui Line (경의선) and the Jungang Line (중앙선). From 27 December 2014 a section of track between Gongdeok Station (공덕역) and Yongsan Station (용산역) will open — finally connecting the two lines.

With the direct connection in place, the two services will now operate as one. This means you’ll be able to travel from Munsan Station (문산역) near the DMZ all the way down to Yongmun Station (용문역) in the south-eastern area of Gyeonggi Province. The new service will cut up to 30 minutes off a trip between these two stations – though I imagine this is a journey that not many would regularly make!

The real bonus will be for those commuters travelling from Paju and Ilsan areas to eastern areas of Seoul including Gangnam as it gives easier access to transfer points at places such as Ichon (Line 4), Oksu (Line 3) and Wangsimni (Lines 2, 5 and the Bundang Line). Likewise, commuters travelling from eastern Gyeonggi areas such as Guri will also have better access to stations in the north-east of Seoul.

This final connection was supposed to made earlier but due to problems with purchasing land and compensation for residents, construction was delayed. In September 2011 KORAIL decided to open the Gyeongui Line extension from the DMC to Gongdeok first and this was completed in 2012.

The lines look as though they will be keeping their two separate names for now but it will be interesting to see if this changes in future. The line is now called the Gyeonguijungang Line(경의중앙선). Here is map of the lines connected. If you can’t read Korean then check out the updated maps which are now appearing in subway cars around Seoul.

Gyeongui Line Jungang Line
The connected line from Gyeongui to Yongmun.

Note that another station, Hyochang (효창역) will also open next year some time on the new 2.5km of track between Gongdeok and Yongsan.

Andy

Originally from New Zealand, Andy moved to Korea in 2007 and very quickly became interested in the many different public transport and urban development projects around Korea. He currently works in the transport sector in a communications role.

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  • Welcome back, Andy!

    It was really great to read this post. I didn’t know about that upcoming connection. Cool! I’ve got a friend who lives up in Paju near Geumneung station on the Gyeongui line. I’ll have to try visiting him from the nearest Jungang Line station to my house, Hoegi.

    And your statement, “to be honest it has been fairly quiet with not too many major happenings in the last two years” couldn’t be more true. After the watershed 2012, which saw tons of exciting new developments, 2013 was quiet. But 2014 was supposed to be another relatively decent year. Alas, it was not to be.

    The one I was really looking forward to was the Line 9 extension from Sin Nonhyeon to Oryun that was scheduled to open in September 2014. When that didn’t happen, I popped into the station office at Seoul Station and asked. The guys said March 2015–maybe… Bummer!

    The other one I was looking forward to was the Ui Line from Sinseoldong to Uidong, also originally scheduled to open in Sept. 2014. But that didn’t happen either. Happened to be at Bomun station, which the line is scheduled to go through, and came across a sign with construction info that had the original completion date of 2014.09.30 taped over with a new date–2016.11.30. Bummer again…

    Finally, I was totally psyched about the Sinbundang line extension from Gangnam station to Yongsan station. When I asked the guys in the office at Seoul station about that one, though, they laughed and said, “Nobody knows!” Argh…

    Any updates on these three projects, as well as any others, like progress on the Suin Line between Suwon and Handae Ap station, the Sosa Line, and projects outside Seoul are always greatly appreciated.

    Anyway, thanks again for the great post and welcome back again! I’m looking forward to future posts.

    • Hi James.

      Thanks so much for your message – really appreciate it!

      Hah – fully reminded me of what a busy year 2014 was SUPPOSED to be! I guess I’m used to the pattern of major extensions/openings being delayed at least until the next year they were originally scheduled for so kind of expected it.

      In saying that 2015 should have a few things to write about including the Maglev, Line 9 extension and Songdo to Incheon extention. The KTX extension to Gangnam is also supposed to open but I won’t be surprised if this is one that gets delayed as well!

      Over the Christmas period when things are a bit quieter I’m planning to do some more research to see what I’ve missed and pump out some more posts before it gets busy again.

      Knowing that someone is reading will motivate me to post more! :)

      • Hi Andy,

        You wrote, “Knowing that someone is reading will motivate me to post more!”

        I’m a huge fan of your posts and always look forward to hearing the latest.

        Even though I live in Seoul and speak pretty proficient Korean, my Korean is not good enough to navigate the all-in-Korean websites that you get your information from. So your going through those and giving us the scoop in English is a HUGE plus. I really appreciate it.

  • “Shinbundang line extension from Gangnam station to Yongsan station”
    -That is Phase 3 and is scheduled to open in 2018 but with all big projects it’ll be bumped back a year or two. The tunnel under the Han was finished back in 2009 and I saw construction over at Ichon Station a few years ago (one of the exits was closed for a bit) so they are working on it but it is still a very long way away.

    Phases 2, 4, 5 are to the south and Phase 2 looks like 2016 along with Incheon Line 2.

    I was so happy with the Maglev as I had several visits to the airport this year…
    I was so happy with Line 9 extension as I used to visit near the stadium frequently…but I’ve moved since then. lol

    With Gyeonggui and Jungang combining I hope a lot more trains come through as demand should hopefully grow.

    • Thanks for the comments mate. It seems to always be the way for me too! Most places I previously lived now have some new line/connection which would have been so useful at the time!

    • “With Gyeonggui and Jungang combining I hope a lot more trains come through as demand should hopefully grow.”

      I second that! Not only is the frequency of the trains on those lines ridiculously sparse, but they even cut the weekend trains on the Jungang line down from an already inadequate 8 to a suffocating 6 cars! Want to go hiking out near Yangsuri on a Sunday afternoon? You may not survive the ride there. We were packed so sardinely in there that I thought my Canadian friend, who’s like 195 cm/100kg, was going to die of a heat stroke on our way out there on a hot July afternoon.

      Also, I’m aware of the projected 2018 opening of the section of the Sinbundang line from Gangnam to Yongsan. So I specifically asked the guys at Seoul station: It’s supposed to open in 2018, right? That’s when they laughed and said, “Nobody knows!”

      One guy then went on a huge rant about all of the ridiculous politics and personalities involved in the whole thing. A rough translation of the last sentence of his rant: “It’s anybody’s guess when it’ll open.”

      Too bad. I’d love to explore Bundang more, but it’s a bit of a hassle to get down there from my house in northern Seoul. I’m going to remain optimistic about 2018, though!

  • Hi! I am curious about how the Jungang-Gyeongui lines are going to be connected. Is there going to be a single through-train service from Munsan to Yongmun, or do passengers still have to physically change trains at adjacent platforms at Yongsan (seeing that they are still two separate lines, after all)?

    I’m confused. You write about a direct connection. Does this mean a physical connection is necessary at Yongsan?

    For instance, I need to get from Gongdeok to Cheongnyangni. Would it just be a one-train service?

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