19 Railway Agencies Invested 2.57 Trillion KRW in Safety Last Year, a 70% Increase from the Previous Year

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Analyzes Investment Disclosures of 19 Railway Operators... Investment Performance Increases for 3 Consecutive Years

Rail Safety Investment Performance / Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Last year, the safety investment performance of 19 railway operating organizations, including Korea Railroad Corporation and Seoul Metro, surpassed 2.5 trillion won. This is the largest amount ever, steadily increasing over the past three years.

According to the "2020 Railway Safety Investment Disclosure" announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on the 13th, the investment performance of the 19 operating organizations last year was 2.5691 trillion won, a 70.2% increase from the previous year.

The annual investment performance steadily increased from 1.4064 trillion won in 2018 to 1.5095 trillion won in 2019, indicating that operating organizations are making efforts to strengthen railway safety, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Among the 19 organizations subject to disclosure, 13 increased their investment performance compared to the previous year. Among them, Korea Railroad Corporation (1.808 trillion won), Seoul Metro (540.5 billion won), and Busan Transportation Corporation (92.2 billion won) ranked at the top.

The execution rate compared to the investment plan of operating organizations also rose by 18 percentage points from 81% in 2018 to 97% last year.

The ratio of actual performance to plan was highest for Ui-Sinseol Light Rail Transit (110%), followed by Busan Transportation Corporation (108%) and Korea Railroad Corporation (107%).

By disclosure item, facility improvement costs were the highest at 1.2733 trillion won, followed by vehicle replacement costs (885.4 billion won) and safety equipment installation costs (216.6 billion won).

In particular, Ui-Sinseol Light Rail Transit significantly increased its investment from only 8 million won in 2019 to 1.7 billion won last year. Due to this investment, the number of railway accidents and fatalities during the same period decreased by half, and the safety level of the operating organization was rated B (excellent), showing positive results, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Safety investment for the next three years (2021?2023) is projected to total 8.8036 trillion won. This is a 61% increase compared to the recent three years' (2018?2020) performance of 5.4849 trillion won.

By category, facility improvement (4.1628 trillion won) and vehicle replacement (2.7423 trillion won) accounted for the largest shares.

The railway safety investment disclosure system was introduced in 2019 to establish a management approach prioritizing safety by transparently disclosing the investment performance and future plans of railway operating organizations and to encourage investment expansion through competition among railway operators.

Kang Hee-up, Director of Railway Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The introduction of the safety investment disclosure system has improved the level of railway safety through competition among operating organizations," adding, "We will continue to strengthen cooperation with operating organizations to expand investment in the future."

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