Opening of the 'Freight Railroad Era' at Pohang's Yeongilman Port ... Overcoming Truck Transport Limitations

Operation Begins in July on 11.3km Section from Pohang Station to Yeongilman Port

View of the Pohang Yeongilman Port railway line.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Pohang City, Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 22nd that it will officially commence commercial operations of the Yeongilman Port inbound railway for container cargo transportation starting July 1.

The first commercial operation will transport wood pallets, mainly imported from Southeast Asia and supplied to power plants, with 40 units of 20-foot containers transported per trip. Until now, these goods have only been transported by rail to demand sites through Busan Port.

The cargo volume at Pohang Yeongilman Port has so far relied solely on truck transportation. Pohang City explained that this has been a weakness in land transportation for bulk cargo. To overcome this weakness, Pohang City invested 169.6 billion KRW of national funds to construct the railway and install a freight terminal over an 11.3 km section from Pohang Station to Yeongilman Port, starting in November 2013 and completing it last December.

Accordingly, the land transportation system for Yeongilman Port's cargo volume, which had depended only on truck transportation, is now divided between rail and trucks, enabling the attraction of inland bulk cargo from the Daegu-Gyeongbuk and Gangwon regions.

Originally constructed as a specialized northern port, Yeongilman Port will require rail transportation, a bulk transport method, as trade with China's Northeast Three Provinces and Russia's Far East region becomes active. Considering this, the commercial operation of Yeongilman Port's inbound railway signifies the prior establishment of large-scale infrastructure in preparation for the upcoming activation of trade with northern regions.

Pohang City is negotiating and promoting cargo volume attraction and additional freight train deployment with major shippers, shipping companies, and KORAIL to increase operations to 20 times per week within this year, starting with the first commercial operation of Yeongilman Port inbound railway in July.

A Pohang City official stated, "Cities with 12 export-import container ports nationwide (Yeongilman Port ranking 6th) are competing by expanding infrastructure and providing various incentives," adding, "We plan to prepare various support measures to attract export-import cargo not only from large shippers in the northern Gyeongbuk and Gangwon regions but also from China's Northeast region and Russia's Far East region."

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang emphasized, "The port industry, along with the steel industry, is a key industry with a significant ripple effect on the regional economy. To strengthen the competitiveness of local companies, continuous technological development by companies and enhancement of logistics competitiveness are essential," and added, "We will devote all efforts to creating various policies and infrastructure to support corporate technological development and reduce logistics costs."

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