Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul will host a public hearing on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's draft master plan for the Myeongmok Line urban railway, along with a residents' briefing on the preliminary strategic environmental impact assessment, Friday at 3 p.m. in the multipurpose hall on the second floor of the Dongdaemun-gu District Office.
The Myeongmok Line is a planned urban railway stretching 9.36 kilometers from Cheongnyangni Station in Dongdaemun-gu to Sinnae Station in Jungnang-gu. The project calls for 10 stations and one depot, with construction scheduled to run from 2024 to 2034. The Seoul Metropolitan Government is currently drawing up the master plan.
Within Dongdaemun-gu, four stations are planned — at Cheongnyangni Station, the intersection in front of the University of Seoul, and in front of the Jeonnong 2-dong and Jangan 2-dong community centers. Once the line opens, it is expected to improve public transit access for residents of the Jeonnong, Dapsimni and Jangandong areas and make transfers to existing rail and subway lines at Cheongnyangni Station considerably more convenient.
The hearing and briefing were organized to inform residents about the project as the master plan takes shape and to gather input from experts and local community members. District Mayor Choi Dong-min, Seoul city and district lawmakers, residents, and specialists in transportation and rail are among the roughly 200 people expected to attend.
The event runs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. It will open with presentations on the draft strategic environmental impact assessment and the master plan, followed by a panel discussion with designated experts, remarks from residents and a question-and-answer session. Lee Cheong-won, a professor in the transportation engineering department at Seoul National University, will chair the proceedings, with transportation and rail experts joining the panel.
Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions directly about the route alignment, station locations and project timeline, and to submit suggestions reflecting local conditions. Opinions raised at the event will be reviewed during the subsequent master-planning and project development process.
The district office plans to work closely with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and other relevant agencies to ensure the master-planning process and follow-up procedures proceed smoothly. It will review resident feedback from the hearing and actively urge the city to incorporate community priorities — including station placement and traffic arrangements — into the project.
"The Myeongmok Line is an urban railway project that residents of Jeonnong, Dapsimni and Jangandong have long been waiting for," District Mayor Choi said. "We will listen carefully to residents' views at this hearing and work closely with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and other agencies to ensure the community's voice is properly reflected throughout the project."
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