Ui-Sinseol Line Operator Loses First Trial in Subsidy Increase Lawsuit Against Seoul City

Seoul Administrative Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The operator of the Seoul Light Rail Ui-Sinseol Line filed an administrative lawsuit against the Seoul Metropolitan Government, requesting an increase in subsidies, but lost in the first trial.

According to the court on the 29th, the Administrative Division 14 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Lee Sanghoon) ruled against Ui-Sinseol Light Rail Co., Ltd. in the lawsuit seeking approval for a change in operating costs amounting to approximately 3.18 billion KRW against the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Previously, in April 2017, when Ui-Sinseol Light Rail and the Seoul Metropolitan Government were promoting the light rail project, they agreed that the operating personnel of the Ui-Sinseol Line would be gradually reduced in stages, subject to approval by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

In July 2018, Ui-Sinseol Light Rail requested approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to gradually reduce 45 operating personnel and received conditional approval.

However, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport intervened. The reason was that emergency response to system failures and safety monitoring would become difficult, potentially weakening railway safety.

Ui-Sinseol Light Rail filed a lawsuit requesting compensation for wages that were spent more than planned due to the failure to obtain approval for personnel reduction. They also argued that "the project announcement was made on the premise of unmanned operation, and the budget was calculated based on this premise, but due to the establishment of related guidelines, unmanned operation became impossible."

The first trial court did not accept these claims. The court pointed out, "Under the current railway safety management system, unmanned operation of light rail is permitted," and "the disapproval of Ui-Sinseol Light Rail's personnel reduction was due to failure to meet safety management standards and other requirements." It also added, "Under the current relevant laws, unmanned operation is possible as long as the plaintiff meets safety standards."

The court ruled, "Although the project announcement for the Ui-Sinseol Line required specifications that would allow unmanned operation, this was only intended to mean that the technology to enable unmanned operation should be equipped once all conditions are met," and "it cannot be considered that the project was premised on unmanned operation of the light rail."

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