High-speed rail network in Seoul area to start construction this year

The construction of the Great Train eXpress (GTX)-C Line between Suwon and Deokjeong in Yangju, cities which are both in Gyeonggi Province, will begin this year. GTX is a planned higher-speed commuter rail network in the Seoul capital area, which consists of three separate lines, GTX-A Line, GTX- B Line and GTX- C Line.

The GTX-C Line is 86.46 kilometers long and will run from Deokjeong Station in Yangju to Suwon Station, with 14 stops along the way. Once completed in 2028, the C Line will drastically reduce the travel time from Deokjeong to Suwon Stations from the current 2.5 hours by subway to less than an hour.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Wednesday that it held a third meeting of the Private Investment Project Review Committee and approved the designation of the GTX-C Line project operator and the agreement to execute the project.

Accordingly, the ministry plans to sign the execution agreement with the project operator, led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co, as soon as possible and begin construction within the year. Kim Wan-sup, 2nd vice minister of Economy and Finance, who chaired the meeting, called on the committee to “proceed swiftly with the follow-up procedures for the project, which will lead the era of 30-minute commuting in the Seoul capital area.”

When the GTX-C Line opens, it is expected to be used by more than 300,000 citizens in the Seoul capital area per day. In particular, it is expected to reduce travel time by up to an hour or more compared with subways and buses, such as 29 minutes from Deokjeong Station to Samsung Station in Seoul and 27 minutes from Suwon Station to Samsung Station. As a result, it is expected to ease traffic congestion in the capital area and reduce commuting time. Especially, the underground-only section spanning 37.95 kilometers from Changdong Station to Government Complex Gwacheon Station will operate up to 164 times a day.

The government also plans to add four more stations to the GTX-C Line, including Wangsimni, Indeokwon, Uiwang, and Sangroksu. The project is expected to cost a total of 4.68 trillion won ($3.70 billion). The GTX-C Line will be constructed for five years and operated for 40 years. The project will follow the Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) contract model, which is a revenue-based private investment project operated by private companies. This is different from the GTX-A and GTX-B Lines, which involve a combination of government and private investment.

The GTX-A Line has already started construction after its execution agreement was approved, while the GTX-B Line’s basic plan has been approved, but the execution agreement has not yet passed the Private Investment Project Review Committee.

It is expected that the GTX-B Line construction will begin next year.

Additionally, during the meeting, the Seoul-Yangju Expressway construction project was designated as a private investment project, and a public notice for third-party proposals was also approved. The Seoul-Yangju Expressway is a project connecting Jangam-dong in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, and Jangheung-myeon and Eunhyeon-myeon in Yangju, with a four-lane road. It is expected to alleviate traffic congestion in the northern region of the Seoul capital area.

The project to build a repair ship facility for ship repair and renovation in the waters south of the container pier at Busan Port New Port was also designated as a private investment project and the public notice for third-party proposals was approved. The project is expected to commence construction in 2025. Changes to the execution agreement for the national defense broadband integrated network lease-type private investment facility project and the deliberation on the appropriateness of facilities for the private investment project to create a public garage for freight vehicles in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, were also approved on the same day.