Hoecheon Jungang Station, a long-cherished wish of residents in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, has finally broken ground. With construction beginning six years later than originally planned, the city of Yangju said it will make every effort to open the station by 2030.
Yangju said Friday it has accepted the construction commencement report for the new Hoecheon Jungang Station and is beginning full-scale construction.
Hoecheon Jungang Station will be newly built between Deokgye Station and Deokjeong Station, in the area of 698 Hoejeong-dong. The project aims to improve transportation convenience for local residents, whose numbers have grown following the development of the Hoecheon district.
The total project cost is 107.7 billion won. The station will include a two-story building above ground, platforms, an underground connecting passage, and a parking facility with 310 spaces.
The station was originally scheduled to open in 2024, but the timeline was pushed back as securing additional parking facilities under the traffic impact assessment during the design process and negotiations over the budget increase took time. As a result, the planned opening was delayed by six years.
The project struggled to gain momentum until negotiations on the total project cost were completed in July last year, opening the way forward. Since then, the contractor was selected in February this year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) approved the implementation plan in May, and construction has now moved into full swing with the acceptance of the commencement report.
Under a consignment agreement signed in July 2020, the project is divided among four organizations. The Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) bears the project cost, while Yangju covers operating expenses. The Korea National Railway handles the project, and the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) is responsible for train operations.
"I find it meaningful to bring the news of the full-scale groundbreaking to citizens who have been waiting for construction of Hoecheon Jungang Station to begin," Yangju Mayor Jung Deok-young said. "We will work closely with relevant agencies to push the project forward without setbacks and do our best to ensure it opens on time."
