Total Project Cost of 3.1816 Trillion KRW Confirmed for 'Pyeongtaek~Osong Double Tracking' Construction Project

Location map of the Pyeongtaek~Osong double-track construction project / Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 29th that it has finalized and officially announced the basic plan for the Pyeongtaek?Osong double-track construction project.

This project involves constructing additional double tracks for both directions over a 46.4 km section beneath the existing Pyeongtaek?Osong high-speed railway, with a total project cost reaching approximately 3.1816 trillion KRW.

The purpose is to expand track capacity to resolve bottlenecks that may occur at the Pyeongtaek junction where the Gyeongbu High-Speed Line and Suseo High-Speed Line meet. Through this, the current track capacity of the Gyeongbu High-Speed Line section between Pyeongtaek and Osong, which operates 190 trains per day, is expected to increase up to twice to 380 trains per day.

Additionally, the project plan introduces new signaling and communication technologies such as tunnels designed for a maximum speed of 400 km/h, the next-generation Korean Train Control System (KTCS-2), and 4th generation wireless railway communication technology (LTE-R). The Ministry explained that this means the infrastructure will be prepared to operate 320 km/h class distributed power trains (EMU-320) commercially and, after future research and development, 400 km/h class ultra-high-speed trains.

In particular, this project includes the second-longest long tunnel after the Yulhyeon Tunnel on the Suseo High-Speed Railway. Considering passenger safety, rescue facilities such as evacuation platforms and safety zones have been incorporated underground at Cheonan-Asan and beneath Biryongsan Mountain. This is expected to secure the golden time for evacuation from trains to the outside in emergencies such as fires in deep tunnels.

Of the total project cost of 3.1816 trillion KRW, 954.5 billion KRW (30%) will be funded by the national treasury, and the remaining 2.2271 trillion KRW (70%) will be borne by the project implementer, the Korea Rail Network Authority. After the announcement of the basic plan, the project section will be divided into five sections through a review of the bidding method for large-scale construction, and the project will proceed using a turnkey bidding method.

According to an analysis using the Korea Development Institute (KDI) regional industry input-output model (IRIO), the project is expected to generate approximately 6.6 trillion KRW in production inducement effects and create about 44,000 jobs during the construction period.

Kim Seontae, Director of the Railway Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "This Pyeongtaek?Osong double-track project will revitalize various sectors such as the construction economy and employment, and we expect to provide fast and convenient high-speed rail services to the public in the future." He added, "We will ensure smooth preparation until the opening through project progress management and will especially manage construction site safety thoroughly."

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