Yoon vows to move up completion of GTX commuter rail networks

President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Monday to move up the completion of the Great Train Express (GTX) commuter rail networks as he visited a train station in Seoul’s suburbs to check progress on a new service line.

The GTX networks are set to enter service next year, starting in March with the GTX-A line connecting Suseo Station in Seoul’s Gangnam Ward with Dongtan Station in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of the capital.

The GTX-C line connecting Yangju, 29 km north of Seoul, to Suwon, just south of the capital, is set to begin construction at the end of the year, while the GTX-B line connecting Incheon, just west of Seoul, to Namyangju, just east of the capital, will begin construction early next year.

“GTX can be regarded as establishing an ultraconnection within this broad economic zone,” Yoon said while meeting with citizens and rail officials inside a train at Dongtan Station.

“Not only will it make commuting and traveling more convenient, it will greatly change the economic landscape in terms of real estate and industry,” he said.

Yoon pledged during the presidential campaign to reduce the commute between the capital area and Seoul to the 30-minute range.

Yoon said during the meeting the new rail networks will help increase jobs in northern Gyeonggi Province and parts of Gangwon Province. He also said the supply of new homes will increase near railway stations and help stabilize the price of homes.

“We will move up the completion date by speeding up like ultra high-speed express trains,” he said.

Yoon added the government plans to subsidize GTX train tickets, which he said are expected to be expensive at around 4,000 won (US$3), and offer discounts of 20 percent for commuters, 30 percent for students traveling to and from school, and up to 53 percent for low-income groups.