Gyeonggi Province to Provide Full Administrative Support for 'GTX-C Line Project'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Gyeonggi Province has decided to provide full administrative support for the Seoul Metropolitan Area Express Train (GTX) C-line project.

This decision follows the recent resolution of the construction cost increase issue for the GTX-C line through mediation by the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 2nd, on the 1st, the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board expressed its support for the partial cost increase ruling issued on the construction cost dispute mediation proposal for the GTX-C line, which was filed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Korea Commercial Arbitration Board is a nonprofit incorporated association established under authorization from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and is the nation's sole statutory arbitration body under the 'Arbitration Act.' Private sector experts by field participate as arbitrators and render a conclusion in a single proceeding. Arbitration rulings carry the same legal effect as court judgments.

The GTX-C line held its groundbreaking ceremony in January 2024, but issues arose regarding project costs due to sharp increases in material and labor expenses. Consequently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport filed a request for arbitration with the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board regarding the GTX-C line construction cost dispute in late last year.

The province expects that with the decision to increase the total project cost, the biggest hurdle to project implementation has been cleanly resolved, and the GTX-C line project will be promoted in earnest.

Following this arbitration, the increase in total project cost must go through the implementation agreement amendment procedure. However, given that the project has been delayed for an extended period, the project operator plans to proceed immediately with actual on-site work such as obstacle relocation and fence installation from as early as the end of this month, separate from administrative procedures.

In line with this, the province plans to hold a working-level consultative meeting with cities and counties, the Korea Railroad Corporation, and the private operator on the 10th. At this meeting, the province will intensively discuss not only measures for swift approval and permit processing for route passage sections but also budget securing and ways to preemptively manage on-site complaints, which are a major cause of construction delays, in order to ensure swift construction progress.

Chu Dae-un, Director of the Province's Railroad, Port and Logistics Bureau, stated, "Gyeonggi Province also made efforts by visiting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport multiple times and tenaciously publicizing substantial problems and solutions" and added, "Going forward, we will not only provide full administrative support but also make efforts to achieve swift project progress by actively engaging on the ground rather than simply observing the situation."

Meanwhile, when the GTX-C line, which connects Deokjeong Station in Yangju to Suwon Station for a total distance of 86.46 km, opens, the travel time from Deokjeong in Yangju to Samsung Station in Seoul and from Suwon to Samsung Station will be dramatically reduced to approximately 20 minutes each.