Uiwang City Holds Consultation Meeting for Adding Uiwang Station to GTX-C Line

[Suwon Ilbo=Seo Dong-young] Uiwang City held a consultation meeting on the 27th to discuss the addition of an Uiwang Station stop on the Seoul Metropolitan Area Rapid Transit (GTX-C) line.

The meeting was held to develop response measures for promoting the addition of Uiwang Station to the GTX-C line, which the government has decided to pursue as a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) private investment project. Approximately 20 participants attended, including Mayor Kim Sang-don as chief, City Council Chair Yoon Mi-kyung, Provincial Councilor Jang Tae-hwan, City Councilor Yoon Mi-geun, and professors and experts in railway and transportation fields.

In late last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designated the GTX-C line as a private investment project and announced the Facility Business Basic Plan (RFP, Request For Proposal), stipulating that in addition to the existing 10 station stops, up to 3 additional stops can be proposed and installed by private operators if certain criteria are met.

For private operators to propose additional station stops, they must meet the following conditions: average speed of 80 km/h or more throughout the line, travel time to Samsung Station or Cheongnyangni Station of no more than 30 minutes, and proposed costs not exceeding 120% of the total project cost.

Since January of last year, the city has formally expressed its intention to attract the Uiwang Station stop on the GTX-C line, conducted its own preliminary feasibility study, and submitted official position papers to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport four times documenting the technical, economic feasibility, and justification for the Uiwang Station stop.

Uiwang Station is attracting interest from private operators as a candidate for additional stops due to expected steady increases in transportation demand. The area features nearby Newlywed Hope Town public housing, Korean Railroad Technology Research Institute, Korea National University of Transportation, Hyundai Motor Research Institute, and Hyundai Rotem Co., Ltd., organizations leading future growth initiatives and green new deal projects.

The addition of Uiwang Station would result in minimal reduction in average speed and travel time. Moreover, given the station's characteristic of sharing the existing Gyeongbu Line, the addition offers significant advantages in that a stop can be established with minimal project costs and construction time through platform extension and transfer gate installation.

The city plans to provide private operators with updated information on various opinions derived from this consultation meeting and development plans not reflected in the "2019 Metropolitan Seoul Origin-Destination (O/D) Survey Update," including the Wol-am and Chopyeong public housing districts. Through close consultation processes, the city will establish specific details regarding mutual business agreements to ensure that the Uiwang Station stop proposal is included in the project application documents.

Meanwhile, based on the results of the consultation meeting, the city plans to actively consult with private operators preparing project application documents for GTX-C construction so that the Uiwang Station additional stop can be reflected, and will complete necessary administrative procedures in advance.

Mayor Kim Sang-don stated, "This consultation meeting achieved positive outcomes by hearing expert opinions from various fields regarding early construction of the GTX-C project and additional Uiwang Station stops, as well as establishing a close cooperation and response system with the National Assembly and municipal and provincial councils." He added, "Based on today's meeting results, I will do my utmost to ensure that the wishes of 160,000 residents are realized with visible results in the confirmation of Uiwang Station."