Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport aims to open in 2030… Validation of feasibility using the causal burden method
Once verification is completed in the first half of next year, design, construction, and vehicle orders will be immediately promoted.
Project cost sharing variables, concerns over how Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do will cover all local costs
After the verification results are announced, the final decision will be made on how to proceed with the project and raise funds.
The GTX (Metropolitan Rapid Transit)-B Chuncheon extension project is being promoted in earnest with the goal of opening in 2030.
However, there is still no complete agreement on how to raise and share financial resources, which can amount to a maximum of 400 billion won and a minimum of 100 billion won, which is acting as a detonator.
On the 16th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would fully pursue the Chuncheon extension project of the GTX-B line connecting Songdo, Incheon to Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, with the goal of opening simultaneously with the main line in 2030.
GTX-B Chuncheon is a project to extend a total of 55.7km from Maseok Station in Namyangju, the final station of the main line, to Chuncheon via Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. Construction has already begun on some sections of the GTX-B main line. This project is considered a key pledge project of the government and Gangwon Provincial Government Kim Jin-tae. If the GTX-B line is extended to Chuncheon, the Chuncheon-Cheongnyangni Station section, which currently takes 1 hour and 30 minutes, will be shortened to about 50 minutes.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that as Chuncheon City and Gapyeong-gun last month proposed a review of the ‘cost-bearing project’ in which local governments bear the costs of the GTX-B extension project, it entrusted it to the National Railroad Authority and began a nine-month feasibility verification service.
Verification will be conducted based on the results of a preliminary feasibility study conducted by Chuncheon City and Gapyeong County this year. By examining economic feasibility and technical feasibility, the route, stopping stations, and number of operations will be determined, and based on this, the size of the project cost and the share of financial resources will be calculated. The total project cost is expected to vary greatly depending on the number of trips and vehicle purchase costs, and will be finalized after feasibility verification.
The feasibility verification will be completed in the first half of next year. Afterwards, if the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, Gyeonggi-do, Chuncheon City, and Gapyeong-gun agree to the verification results, design, construction, and vehicle orders will begin with the goal of opening in 2030.
However, variables still remain. Unlike the positions of Chuncheon City and Gapyeong County, which proposed verification of the cost-bearing method for the cause, Gangwon Self-Governing Province and Gyeonggi Province are said to have not yet decided on their positions. In the case of Gyeonggi Province, the decision is made based on the verification results and the size of the project cost, and Gangwon Self-Governing Province also plans to review the verification results and Gyeonggi Province’s position.
If the cost-paying method is chosen, the project can be carried out immediately, but the project cost must be borne 100% through local funds. There is also a high possibility that the effect will be halved as the number of trips is reduced. When promoted as a government-financed project, the ratio of national and local expenses is 7:3, so local governments can lessen the burden of raising financial resources, but it has the disadvantage of having to go through various administrative procedures, such as first reflecting it in the 5th national railway network plan.
