DAEGU — A planned Daegu-Gyeongbuk metropolitan railway that would cut travel time from Daegu to the new Daegu-Gyeongbuk International Airport to about 30 minutes has passed the government's preliminary feasibility study, drawing attention to whether the decision will break a deadlock over the airport project itself.
The Daegu city government said on the 27th that the railway, the airport's core transport link, cleared a final preliminary feasibility review by the Ministry of Planning and Budget the previous day. The double-track line will run 70.06 kilometers from Daegu through eastern Gumi and the planned airport site to Uiseong, connecting with the Jungang Line, at a total cost of 3.18 trillion won ($2.3 billion).
The line will be served by GTX-class express trains with a top speed of 180 kilometers per hour, giving passengers rapid access to the airport once service begins. Officials expect the railway to function not only as a passenger link but as economic infrastructure tying together the region's industrial base.
By connecting Daegu's industrial hubs, the Gumi national industrial complex and a planned advanced industrial complex in Gunwi, the line is intended to create a new industrial, logistics and business corridor centered on the airport, supporting a broader mega-regional economy.
The city said it would concentrate administrative resources on accelerating the project, working closely with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, North Gyeongsang Province and related agencies.
Attention is now on whether the feasibility approval will help the airport project, with Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province at odds over how it should be financed.
Daegu wants the airport converted quickly into a state-funded national project, while the province argues that the two local governments should put up initial funding to get construction under way sooner.
"The metropolitan railway is not simply a rail project but core infrastructure that will underpin future growth in Daegu and North Gyeongsang and the era of the new airport," Daegu Mayor Choo Kyung-ho said. "We will devote our efforts to advancing the project so that Daegu and North Gyeongsang can emerge as a mega-regional economy representing all of Korea."
