Incheon 2nd Airport Railroad Blueprint Redrawn... Seeking to Enhance Economic Feasibility

Incheon City is once again promoting the construction of the 'Second Airport Railroad,' which will allow high-speed rail travel between major cities nationwide such as Busan, Gwangju, Gangneung, and Incheon International Airport in one go.

The city announced on the 26th that it has started a re-planning project for the Second Airport Railroad.

This project aims to devise ways to improve the economic feasibility, including the benefit-cost ratio (B/C), of the Second Airport Railroad. The project cost of 190 million KRW will be shared equally by Incheon City and Incheon International Airport Corporation, and the project period is until April next year.

To enhance economic feasibility, the city plans to reflect new development plans such as the 'Jemulpo Renaissance' project?a key pledge of Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok to transform Incheon’s inner harbor and surrounding old downtown into a cultural, tourism, and industrial convergence city?and the 3rd phase new towns including the Gwangmyeong and Siheung public housing districts. Additionally, the city will focus on reviewing connection plans with the metropolitan area express railroad (GTX) Line D (Gimpo?Bucheon?Gangnam?Hanam?Paldang).

The Second Airport Railroad will be promoted on a 16.7 km section connecting Suing Station on the Suin Line and the existing Airport Railroad (Incheon Airport?Seoul Station) Airport Cargo Terminal Station, with an estimated project cost of 1.7349 trillion KRW. Upon opening, it will connect with the Incheon-origin KTX and Gyeonggang Line, allowing travel from Incheon Airport to Busan in about 3 hours and to Gwangju and Gangneung in about 2 hours using the Second Airport Railroad.

Second Airport Railroad Route Map [Provided by Incheon City]

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The construction project of the Second Airport Railroad was included as an additional review project in the 1st and 2nd National Railroad Network Construction Plans but was excluded from the 3rd and 4th railroad network plans due to economic feasibility issues.

Opening an additional airport railroad would impose a burden to compensate for losses to the private investors of the Incheon Bridge and Yeongjong Bridge projects, and the existing Airport Railroad could face increased operational deficits due to decreased demand, which became obstacles to promoting the Second Airport Railroad.

However, as traffic volume on the Incheon Bridge and Yeongjong Bridge steadily increases, the expected compensation for losses is decreasing, and considering the annual increase in Airport Railroad users, the city views the business feasibility of the Second Airport Railroad as improved compared to the past. In particular, it secured momentum to proceed again as it was selected as a campaign pledge of presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol in the last presidential election.

The city plans to prepare the optimal project plan by the end of the year and propose its inclusion in the 5th National Railroad Network Construction Plan to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the first half of next year.

An official from Incheon City stated, "The Second Airport Railroad is an essential project to improve transportation convenience for Incheon Airport users and strengthen the airport’s competitiveness," adding, "We will focus on enhancing the economic feasibility of the route through this project."

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