The Gimpo Goldline ( or ) is a

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 lig ...

line opened on 28 September 2019.

Background

Under the third mayor of

Gimpo City Gimpo () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Incheon, with which it shares the South Korean side of the Han River estuary, as well as Seoul and the lesser cities of Paju and Goyang. North Korea is across the Han River. The cu ...

, Kim Dongsik (김동식), the line was going to be an extension of Line 5. This idea was rejected by

Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT) was established in 1994 to operate the Seoul Subway lines 5, 6, 7, 8 in Seoul, South Korea. The corporation operated a total of 201 subway trains at 148 stations on lines 5-8. The operatio ...

(now

Seoul Metro Seoul Transportation Corporation, branded as Seoul Metro (Hangul: ), is a municipal-owned corporation owned by Seoul Metropolitan Government, and one of the two major operators of Seoul Metropolitan Subway with Korail. History * May 31, 2017 ...

) as they wanted to build a subway yard in the town of Yangchon-eup. Since then, the Gimpo Han River Metro project was promoted under the mayor of Kang Kyung-gu, but the plan was canceled and Seoul Subway Line 9 extended to Gimpo but failed after Yoo Young-rok, a Democrat who was at a political crossroads with Kim Dong-sik and Kang Kyung-gu's Grand National Party, was elected. The opening of the metro has been delayed several times under the current mayor, Yoo Young-rok and Chung ha-yeong, and it has been criticized by citizens. The construction cost was 1.6503 trillion won with 1.2 trillion from

Korea Land and Housing Corporation Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) is a government-owned corporation which is responsible for the development of land in cities, and the maintenance and management of land and housing. Foundation Basis LH was built by law to form the Korea ...

. And this funds came from the wide-area transportation contributions paid to the company by residents of the Hangang New Town. Two car vehicles operates at intervals of three minutes during peak hours with a maximum occupancy of 122 people per car. The line uses rolling stock by Hyundai Rotem. Travel time from one end to the other is an estimated 30 minutes and transfers are available at

Gimpo Airport Station Gimpo International Airport Station is a subway, railway and light rail station on the Seoul Subway Line 5 and Line 9 and AREX and Gimpo Goldline. True to its name, it serves the nearby Gimpo Airport, the hub of domestic flights in the Seoul met ...

. In 2012, planners expected 88,257 passengers during the first year of operation (then 2018), 91,501 in 2021, and 92,561 in 2026 with an operating deficit of roughly 10 billion won.

Stations

References

Seoul Metropolitan Subway lines Gimpo Railway lines opened in 2019 Airport rail links in South Korea {{SouthKorea-metro-stub 750 V DC railway electrification