Seoul City Selects 'Gangnam Metro' as Preferred Negotiation Partner for Wirye Sinsa Line

Route Status (Based on the 2015 Seoul Urban Railway Network Construction Plan)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Seoul City announced on the 31st that it has selected (tentatively named) Gangnam Metro Co., Ltd. as the preferred negotiation partner for the 'Wirye-Sinsa Line Urban Railway Private Investment Project.'

The city explained that from the 28th to the 31st, a 23-member evaluation committee composed of experts in 16 fields including planning, architecture, demand, accounting, and operation conducted evaluations, and Gangnam Metro (led by GS Construction) received the highest score and was selected as the preferred negotiation partner. (Tentatively named) Hana Eco Metro Co., Ltd. (led by Hana Financial Investment) was selected as the secondary negotiation partner.

This project was recognized for private investment eligibility by the Public Investment Management Center of the Korea Development Institute in November 2018, and after related reviews by Seoul City and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, as well as approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Council, a third-party proposal announcement for recruiting operators was made in July last year. In November of the same year, five consortia submitted business proposals.

The 'Wirye-Sinsa Line Urban Railway Private Investment Project' is an urban railway project connecting Wirye New Town in Songpa-gu, Seoul, passing through Samseong Station, to Sinsa-dong in Gangnam-gu. A total length of 14.7 km will be constructed, including 11 stations and one vehicle depot. It is being promoted to improve the metropolitan transportation measures of Wirye New Town and the public transportation environment in the southeastern region of Seoul.

Seoul City plans to quickly form a negotiation team and start negotiations by signing an implementation agreement with the preferred negotiation partner. It also aims to expedite follow-up procedures such as detailed design, various impact assessments, and approval of implementation plans, with the goal of starting construction in 2022.

Professor Jeong Il-ho of Seoul National University, who chaired the evaluation committee, stated, "We focused on evaluating the concreteness and feasibility of the business proposal, the appropriateness of the government’s financial burden request, as well as accessibility for users and operational plans."

Han Je-hyun, head of Seoul City’s Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, said, "Once the Wirye-Sinsa Line urban railway project is completed, it will improve public transportation accessibility in Wirye New Town and alleviate traffic congestion, greatly contributing to the local economy as a result of establishing a transportation network in southeastern Seoul." He added, "We will promptly carry out the project procedures for the Wirye-Sinsa Line and strive to advance the construction start date by even one day."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.