Sae-ryu Station~Seong-dae Station Light Rail Transit to Break Ground in 2009

The urban light rail transit North-South Line (Sae-ryu Station-Seong-dae Station) being promoted by Suwon City as a private proposal project is expected to break ground as early as 2009 and be completed by 2013.

The Suwon Light Rail Transit North-South Line is a project to construct 22 stations and 1 vehicle depot by 2013, spanning a total length of 18.75 kilometers, connecting Sae-ryu Station-Bus Terminal-City Hall-World Cup Stadium-General Sports Complex-Jeongja and Cheoncheon District-Seong-dae Station.

The total project cost of 9.419 trillion won will be financed with 51% or 4.804 trillion won from private capital, 29.4% or 2.769 trillion won from national treasury, and 19.6% or 1.846 trillion won from local government funds.

Suwon City announced that it received notification on the 9th from the Public Investment Management Center (PIMAC) under the Korea Development Institute (KDI) within the Ministry of Planning and Budget that the Suwon Light Rail Transit North-South Line project, which was proposed last October by the Suwon Light Rail Transit Company structured as a consortium, is feasible.

The Public Investment Management Center reported that upon investigating project eligibility, the cost-benefit ratio (B/C) analyzing economic feasibility was 1.2 (baseline 1).

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province is known to plan to select 3-4 municipal railway projects, including Suwon and Gimpo, which received eligibility judgments, as targets for "Gyeonggi Province Urban Rail Transit Master Plan Establishment" by the end of this year and complete approval of the master plan from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs by the second half of next year.

The city plans to request review from the Central Private Investment Project Review Committee once the master plan is approved. It is anticipated that national funding support will proceed smoothly once the project passes through the Central Private Investment Review Committee.

The city plans to recruit private investment companies through a third-party announcement of private investment projects, select the final operator, begin construction in the middle of 2009, and complete the project in the second half of 2013.

However, Gyeonggi Province has expressed reluctance, stating it lacks capacity to support local government light rail project costs as it prioritizes various metropolitan transportation network projects, so the city is making efforts to prepare plans for securing provincial funding.

From the 10th to 31st of next month, the city plans to visit agencies related to the light rail project, including the Ministry of Planning and Budget, Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Gyeonggi Province, and Korea Railroad Facility Corporation, to request cooperation.

A city official explained that "the installation of light rail transit will help alleviate traffic congestion resulting from concentrated public transportation use and contribute to balanced urban development."