Osan Station Transfer Center Construction Project MOU Ceremony

Osan City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kwak Sang-wook) held an MOU ceremony on the 18th at the City Hall's Mulhyanggi Room with the Korea Railroad Infrastructure Corporation (President Kim Kwang-jae) to solidify mutually cooperative and supportive efforts for the successful advancement of the Osan Station Transfer Center construction project.

The ceremony was attended by approximately 90 people in total, including from Osan City side: Mayor Kwak Sang-wook, City Council Speaker Choi Woong-su, Gyeonggi Province Assembly members Song Young-man and Park Dong-woo, city councilors, Doksan Fortress Association members, and related organizations and agencies within the city; and from the Railroad Infrastructure Corporation side: President Kim Kwang-jae and five other officials.

The ceremony proceeded in the following order: briefing on the background of the MOU by the City's Transportation Division Chief, remarks by Mayor Kwak Sang-wook, President Kim Kwang-jae, and City Council Speaker Choi Woong-su, followed by the signing of the MOU.

At the ceremony, Mayor Kwak Sang-wook said, "The promotion of the Osan Station Transfer Center, which is the desire of the citizens of Osan, appears to be bearing fruit through the united efforts of all involved, including Osan City, National Assembly members, the City Council, and Province Assembly members," and added, "With today's MOU with the Korea Railroad Infrastructure Corporation as an opportunity, we expect that the construction of the transfer center will proceed successfully through mutually cooperative efforts."

Meanwhile, Osan City determined that the installation of a transfer station was urgent due to increased traffic resulting from large-scale developments such as the construction of Sejiao New City and nearby Dongtan areas. Since the end of 2011, the city has consistently proposed plans for the transfer center construction to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

As a result, the National Assembly budget passed in January of this year, securing national funding. Design work is currently underway, with construction slated to begin in the first half of next year and targeting completion in December 2015.

The Osan Station Transfer Center construction will involve 34.9 billion won in project costs, including national funding, and will be built as a three-dimensional structure with a scale of 28,000 ㎡ (8,500 pyeong) on the current Osan Station site. It is notable as the first case in Korea to be constructed over railroad tracks and is expected to become a new landmark for Osan City.