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Ulsan Mayor Kim Du-gyeom Thoroughly Reviews Safety Measures at Downtown Tram Construction Site

Ulsan City, which is promoting urban rail transit, inspected the extension construction site of the Berlin tram system, renowned worldwide for its history and scale.

On the afternoon of the 8th, the Ulsan City overseas delegation, including Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom, visited the M10 tram line extension construction site in Berlin, the capital of Germany, the city announced on the 9th.

The Berlin tram, which began operation in 1865, is not only the oldest in the world but also ranks third globally in terms of scale.

A total of 24 lines are in operation, of which nine are MetroTrams running 24 hours through the city center. Along with the U-Bahn (9 subway lines) and the S-Bahn (15 suburban rail lines), it serves as an essential means of transportation for approximately 4.5 million Berlin residents.

Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom and his delegation conducted an inspection of the main overview of the construction, safety measures for the downtown section during construction, and the construction progress procedures.

Jens Kleeberg, a director and urban rail expert from the German company RailOne, accompanied them on this visit.

Director Jens Kleeberg explained, “According to Berlin’s urban development policy, extensive expansion of major downtown transportation is currently planned, and efforts to modernize the system are underway.”

The new line under construction directly connects the Europacity urban development area north of the main train station, the eastern downtown area of Mitte, the Pankow district of Prenzlauer Berg, and the densely populated residential area of Moabit in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg at intervals of 5 to 10 minutes.

Tram Concept Map.

Since the construction is taking place in a complex downtown area, measures such as prior disclosure of construction section information to residents and guidance on detour routes considering traffic congestion are being implemented to minimize citizen inconvenience.

During the construction period, residents are guaranteed access to their house entrances and driveways, with corresponding safety measures in place. It is also known that routes allowing emergency vehicles to pass are clearly maintained during the construction phase.

As the final schedule of the day, they boarded a tram operating in downtown Berlin to inspect transport capacity, speed, ride comfort, punctuality, as well as the condition of internal and external facilities and the transfer system with other means of transportation such as buses.

Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom of Ulsan said, “During the construction of Ulsan Urban Rail Line 1, we will divide the construction sections as much as possible and check every anticipated issue in the construction process to establish traffic flow measures that minimize inconvenience to citizens.”

Ulsan City plans for Urban Rail Line 1 to operate along the main arterial roads Samsan-ro, Munsu-ro, and Daehak-ro, adjusting the wide lane widths and partially reducing sidewalk widths to maintain the current basic number of lanes.

Samsan-ro has a grid road network structure around it, Munsu-ro will have a detour road opened, and Daehak-ro is expected to disperse traffic volume through alternative detour roads such as the Southern Ring Road.

Ulsan City plans to comprehensively analyze and review the connectivity of the road network around Line 1 and conduct simulations on traffic system improvement measures such as rotary control and alternative detour road maintenance to minimize traffic inconvenience for citizens.

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