A Study on the Planning of Railway Route Adjacent to the Preservation Area of Cultural Assets

This study draws from the hands-on experience of designing railway routes that pass very close to the Cultural Heritage Protection Areas. There have been many cases where the rail route plan is rejected during the deliberation process of National Cultural Heritage Alteration although it has been selected as the best alternative after much time and expenses are spent and public consensus is obtained. When the route has to be realigned, this often leads to project delay and possible counter protest from the local public. In an effort to prevent such problems from occurring over again, this study looks at the projects where railways pass close to the Cultural Heritage Protection Areas. We examine the nature of public protests and the route selection process that reflects these protests into consideration. Based on the experiences drawn from these cases, we offer a few suggestions that we hope will contribute to the success of the project. The suggestions include the right timing for the application of Cultural Heritage Alteration and route alignment technique.