Park Hyung-duk, the People Power Party's candidate for Dongducheon mayor, unveiled a large-scale transportation pledge centered on extending the Greater Metropolitan Express Railway (GTX)-C line to Dongducheon and fast-tracking construction of the Seoul-Dongducheon-Yeoncheon expressway. The plan envisions expanding both rail and road simultaneously through a "dual metropolitan transit network" to position the city as a transportation hub in northern Gyeonggi Province.
Park's top pledge is an early groundbreaking for the GTX-C line extension to Dongducheon. The GTX-C line is currently planned to run up to Deokjeong Station in Yangju. Extending the line to Dongducheon would bring Gangnam within a 30-minute commute, according to Park's campaign.
His second key pledge — construction of the Seoul-Dongducheon-Yeoncheon expressway — is also a major project. Park stressed that building the GTX and the expressway together would complete a "dual transportation revolution."
He also presented pledges tied to daily life. These include an early groundbreaking for a GTX metropolitan transfer center, pushing for GTX-C trains to stop at Jihaeng Station, increasing express services and shortening intervals on Subway Line 1, and securing nighttime transit options. The pledges also cover improvements to entry and exit points of the Second Seoul Ring Expressway in the Dongducheon and Pocheon directions, an expansion of the "Dongteuri" elementary school care shuttle bus, and the introduction of an AI-based smart traffic signal system.
Northern Gyeonggi is considered a region with relatively poor transportation access within the greater Seoul area. In Dongducheon's case, a commute of more than an hour to central Seoul has been cited as a cause of population outflow and weakened regional competitiveness. If Park's pledges are realized, improvements in commuting convenience as well as positive effects on attracting corporate investment are expected.
"The dual metropolitan transit network is the core driving force that will change Dongducheon's future," Park said. "I will build a Dongducheon that is a transportation city twice as fast and convenient, a city where citizens' time comes back to life."
