SOUTH KOREA: The urban rail network in Daegu has expanded following the opening of a cross-city suburban rail corridor and the extension of its metro.
Suburban link opens
The 61·9 km Daegyeong suburban rail line opened on December 13 linking Gumi in the northwest with Gyeongsan in the east, running through Daegu station in the urban core.
Trains use existing tracks on the Gyeongbu main line. They serve seven stations, some of which have been reconstructed and others newly built. Of the 209·2bn won total project cost, 70% was provided by the central government and 30% by local sources. Construction started in 2016.
Services are operated by national carrier Korail. Hyundai Rotem supplied nine two-car trainsets. Trains run every 20 min and an end-to-end journey takes 1 h.
The line achieved an average daily ridership of 28 000 passengers over its first month of operation.
Line 1 reaches Hayang
Meanwhile, an 8·9 km, three-station eastern extension of metro Line 1 opened on December 21. This took Line 1 from Ansim to Hayang, east of Daegu itself.
Construction began in April 2019 and the total project cost was 372·8bn won, 70% of which was provided by the central government and 30% by local sources.
A further extension of Line 1 is planned at the eastern end. This would add another 5 km to serve Geumho; trains would run onto the main line on this section. The projected cost of the work is 205·2bn won and completion is planned by 2030.
- A feature article about suburban rail projects in South Korea from the August 2024 issue of Railway Gazette International is available to subscribers.
