PPP pledges to bury railways running through cities underground for urban redevelopment


SEOUL/SUWON, South Korea, The ruling People Power Party (PPP) said Wednesday it will seek to bury railways running through major cities underground and develop the newly created overland areas into futuristic urban spaces with parks, offices and new homes.

PPP leader Han Dong-hoon unveiled the proposal as a campaign pledge ahead of April’s general elections during a visit to Suwon, a city just south of Seoul, part of which is divided by tracks of the Seoul-Busan rail line.

Such railways in cities have been blamed for the underdevelopment of areas surrounding them, and burying railways underground was part of various policy ideas the PPP has proposed to develop old urban areas across the country.

“We will deliver additional campaign pledges that go beyond just resolving regional divide, but also those that can resolve the divide in life quality between residents from different regions,” the PPP said in a release.

Source: Yonhap News Agency