In almost any Korean neighborhood, news of a new subway station is greeted with celebration. In western Seoul's Hongdae area, however, a recent announcement has sparked rare rebellion. Merchants and buskers on Red Road, a landmark pedestrian strip at the heart of the neighborhood’s youth culture, are leading an unusually fierce campaign against the planned construction of the Daejang-Hongdae Line terminus there, even as commuters, nearby residents and property owners along the route hail the project as a long-awaited upgrade to western Seoul’s rail network. The Daejang-Hongdae Line is a roughly 20-kilometer metro project that will link Bucheon's Daejang-dong and Goyang's Deogeun-dong, both in Gyeonggi Province, with key hubs in Seoul’s Yangcheon and Gangseo areas, cross Gayang Bridge and reach Mapo District’s Hongdae area. Twelve stations are planned. The line, backed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and built by a private consortium with a 2.1 trillion won budget, is promoted as a "transportation revolution" for southwestern Gyeonggi Province and western Se