South Gyeongsang, Ulsan push for early feasibility clearance on southeastern rail loop

South Gyeongsang Province and Ulsan have launched a joint push to secure early approval of a preliminary feasibility study for the "southeastern circular metropolitan railway," a project they say would complete a one-hour commuter zone across the region.

Officials from both local governments visited Government Complex Sejong on Friday, calling on the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Korea Development Institute in succession. They formally submitted a joint petition along with a signature drive bearing 155,206 names from residents of the two jurisdictions, urging the government to clear the preliminary feasibility study as soon as possible.

Park Seong-jun, director of South Gyeongsang Province's transport and construction bureau, and Yang Bun-seok, head of Ulsan's metropolitan tram and transport division, held face-to-face meetings with senior government reviewers and working-level officials to press the case for the project's necessity and urgency. The current status of the government's feasibility review and the timing of its final decision remain strictly undisclosed, but both local governments said they are marshaling their full administrative resources to secure approval before the end of the year.

The signature campaign ran from June through August, drawing broad participation from residents along the proposed rail corridor. The final tally came to 155,206 signatories — 56,000 from Gimhae, 54,657 from Yangsan, 25,710 from Ulju-gun in Ulsan, and 18,839 from Changwon.

The southeastern circular metropolitan railway would run 54.6 kilometers from Jinyeong-eup in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, through Bukjeong in Yangsan to the Ulsan KTX station. The total estimated project cost is around 3 trillion won ($2.17 billion), to be funded under the standard metropolitan railway cost-sharing formula of 70 percent national government funding and 30 percent local government funding.

Once the line opens, travel time between Jinyeong, Yangsan and Ulsan is expected to fall dramatically — from roughly 90 minutes by road and bus to about 30 minutes. The line is also set to connect with the Busan-Yangsan-Ulsan metropolitan railway, which cleared its own feasibility study in July last year and is already under development, at key transfer hubs including Bukjeong in Yangsan. Together, the two lines are expected to form the backbone of a circular metropolitan rail network linking the core of the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region.

If the feasibility study is approved, both local governments plan to spend roughly a year on a viability review and master plan before breaking ground in sequence, targeting completion in 2035.

"The 155,000-plus signatures represent the unified voice of our residents calling for this railway to be built without delay," Park said. "We will work to the very end alongside Ulsan to see this project through to approval."