Increase Stops at Semi-High-Speed Rail Stations and Expand Beneficiary Areas of Metropolitan Railroads

Economic Regulatory Innovation: Railway Sector Regulatory Improvement Plans
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Selects 12 Cases, Develops Detailed Implementation Plans

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] In the future, stations where only electric trains or Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains could stop are expected to allow stops by semi-high-speed trains as well. Additionally, standards for metropolitan railroads connecting adjacent areas will be established, expanding beneficiary regions, and comprehensive regulatory improvements in the railway sector will be implemented.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it has selected a total of 12 sector-specific improvement tasks related to railway construction, industry, and qualifications, including easing rigid railway facility operation standards to expand high-speed rail beneficiary areas and relaxing formal and overlapping regulations, and has prepared detailed implementation plans.

So far, the government has held six regulatory reform review meetings chaired by ministers and vice ministers to identify candidate tasks for regulatory improvements and decided to improve some outdated regulations in the railway sector. Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport operated a regulatory innovation task force (TF) for four months (June to October), conducting 10 meetings and surveys targeting railway vehicles, parts companies, and operating organizations to develop this improvement plan.

The core of this announcement is the expansion of semi-high-speed train operation areas. Under current regulations, introducing semi-high-speed trains (260 km/h class) on existing lines was not allowed without upgrades (such as tunnel expansion and platform extension), but going forward, regulations will be improved to allow stops at existing stations and increase operating speeds on existing lines without facility upgrades.

Improvements will also be made to the designation criteria for metropolitan railroads. Until now, metropolitan railroad project sections were limited to within a 40 km radius of the metropolitan area's central hub, limiting the ability to meet metropolitan service demand. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to remove this 40 km restriction and establish standards for metropolitan railroads connecting adjacent areas to expand beneficiary regions. For example, with the removal of the restriction, routes such as Daegu-Gyeongbuk and Yongmun-Hongcheon could be designated as metropolitan railroads.

The Ministry will also promote regulatory improvements to activate private investment and enhance operator benefits. For long-term station complex development projects, the occupancy period will be extended from 30 years to 50 years to encourage private investment. Additionally, for small tunnels, instead of designating them as disaster relief areas, necessary disaster prevention facilities such as evacuation routes will be installed to reduce project costs. Design and construction-related provisions within facility and technical standards will be unified under construction standards to improve user convenience and management efficiency.

Improvements will also be implemented for formal and overlapping standards to foster the railway industry. For low-speed and non-passenger vehicles such as track and accident recovery vehicles, excessive approval standards will be relaxed by shortening test run distances (e.g., 50 km). Furthermore, when producing the same vehicle model at the same production facility, only the initial (one-time) manufacturer approval will be required to simplify redundant procedures.

When delivering railway products to the Korea Rail Network Authority, test reports currently required for every delivery will be exempted for a certain period for the same railway signaling products. This applies only to companies with existing delivery records whose safety has already been verified.

A support plan for the practical application of railway parts was also announced. Technical surveys will be conducted to discover newly developed parts, and the developed railway parts will be applied to actual operating vehicles such as spare vehicles to promote practical application.

Participation criteria for the railway industry cluster to foster the railway industry will also be improved. Legal regulations will be revised to allow the creation of railway industry clusters linked with infrastructure such as test tracks managed by the Korea Rail Network Authority.

Additionally, it will become possible to take written exams without prior completion of training courses, and a new qualification for urban railway control will be introduced. Furthermore, fines under the Railway Safety Act, which were considered excessive relative to the severity of violations and had low payment rates raising questions about their effectiveness, will be realistically improved.

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