Suwon City Takes Yongin Light Rail as Cautionary Tale

As Suwon City pushes forward with the adoption of a light rail system connecting north and south across the region, Yongin City has drawn attention by unveiling the trains for 'Yongin Light Rail,' Korea's first light rail system.

On the 6th, Yongin City held a vehicle delivery ceremony at the vehicle depot of Yongin Light Rail Co., Ltd. in Samga-dong and unveiled six trains imported from Canada's Bombardier.

The light rail system unveiled on that day uses the same model as trains operating at New York's JFK International Airport and is also in operation in Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur. Yongin Light Rail Co., Ltd. plans to bring in an additional 30 trains by June, following the vehicle delivery, and conduct test runs for full system integration and completely unmanned automatic operation using advanced central control systems.

If projects proceed as planned, by June of next year, it is anticipated that the Yongin Light Rail running 18.4 kilometers across 15 stations from Gugal Station, an extension of the Bundang Line, to Everland in Cheoin-gu will be operational.

When Yongin Light Rail begins full operation next year, it is expected to have significant ripple effects on Suwon City. This is because, amid intense debate over whether to adopt the Suwon Light Rail, public opinion could sway based on the effectiveness of the Yongin Light Rail implementation.

Suwon City began publicizing the adoption of Suwon Light Rail starting with the launch of the Suwon Urban Railroad basic plan project in March of last year. The reasoning is that adoption is necessary given traffic demand in a metropolis with a population approaching 1.1 million.

The city plans to pursue the Suwon Light Rail North-South Line, a 18.75-kilometer section (22 stations) connecting Seryou Station, Bus Terminal, City Hall, World Cup Stadium, General Sports Complex, Jeongja·Cheoncheon District, and Seongdae Station, as a private investment proposal project. Additionally, the city had planned to pursue a feasibility review of the Suwon Light Rail East-West Line connecting Homaesil District, Gwonseon Administrative Town, Suwon Station, East Suwon Intersection, Court Intersection, and Woncheon Amusement Park.

However, questions have been raised about the feasibility of the light rail given the project costs of approximately 1 trillion won (941.9 billion won) and profitability concerns, and there is also rising public opinion calling for long-term postponement or complete abandonment due to unconfirmed metropolitan rail plans.

Consequently, the city says it will not pursue the project recklessly. The city provisionally suspended the basic plan project while planning to move forward with the light rail project after observing the progress of the '2020 Suwon City Urban Master Plan (Revision)' and the comprehensive transportation improvement measures for Dongtan 2 District being reviewed by Gyeonggi Province.

The cautious stance taken for these reasons is also interpreted as the city's intention to analyze the performance from Yongin Light Rail operations and observe the direction of public opinion.