New Bundang Line Opens
(Published October 27, 2011)

– A 16-minute run from Gangnam Station to Jeongja Station using an unmanned operation system
– Private funds minimize financial burden on government and offer a brighter outlook for GTX

– The double-track New Bundang Line (Gangnam–Jeongja) opened on October 28, offering a brighter outlook for the construction of GTX. The New Bundang Line is an express subway system. As the new subway line is a privately funded project, it suggests many positive things for the construction of the GTX. A artist’s rendering of GTX (GNEWS PLUS)

The double-track New Bundang Line (Gangnam – Jeongja) has opened, offering a brighter outlook for the construction of GTX. Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Land, Transpiration, and Maritime Affairs held a ceremony to open the New Bundang Line in which approximately 1,000 people, including Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo, Land, Transportation, and Maritime Affairs Minister Kwon Do-youp, Korea Rail Network AuthorityPresident Kim Gwang-jae, and local lawmakers participated. The 18.5-kilometer-long Gangnam-Jeongja section is the first to be completed among the four sections of the New Bundang Line (Yongsan to Homaesil); it connects Gangnam Station of Seoul and Jeongja Station of Seongnam.

The project started as a privately funded initiative in 2002, and ground was broken in 2005. The section in Gyeonggi Province is 9.7 kilometers long and has two stations – Pangyo and Jeongja Stations. The remaining four stations – Gangnam, Yangjae, Yangjae Citizens Forests, and the Entrance to Cheonggyesan Mountain – are in Seoul. Trains on the Bundang Line will be remotely controlled from a central control room through an unmanned operation system, representing a first for a subway line in a metropolitan area. The fare is KRW 1,600 for 10§° and increases by KRW 100 every 5km thereafter.

Thanks to the opening of the New Bundang Line, residents in the southeastern area of the Seoul Metropolitan area are now able to use a fast and convenient, new-concept metropolitan railroad service. In particular, the New Bundang Line offers an express service and was built with private funds. So the project is seen as a model for GTX.

The speed of the New Bundang Line is 62km/h, which is double the speed of the Seoul Subway System (30-35km/h). This means that a train on the new line will be able to run the 18.5km section between Jeongja Station to Gangnam Station in 16 minutes. In addition, the new line is a metropolitan railroad that was built with private funds. This project has been successful because the private funds bought land for the project and minimized the financial burden on the government.

Most of the total investment of KRW 1.58 trillion was covered by private investment (KRW 840.7 billion) and the Pangyo development charge (KRW 485 billion). The central government and the Gyeonggi Provincial Government built an advanced express railroad by only investing KRW 191.3 billion (12.1%) and KRW 27.2 billion (1.7%), respectively.

In light of this, Gyeonggi Province forecasts that the province can build the environmentally friendly GTX by paying only 3.1% (KRW 413.5 billion) of the total expected cost of KRW 13,063.8 billion. In the meantime, the GTX project will commence in 2015 as three routes (140.7km) were included among the new projects for the first half of the year under the Ministry of Land, Transportation, and Maritime Affairs’ National Railroad Network Plan (2011-2020). The three routes are Ilsan-Suseo (Dongtan, 46.2km), Songdo-Cheongryangri (48.7km) and Euijeongbu-Geumjeong (45.8km).

-GNEWS PLUS News | Nam Gyeong-u echo2008@kg21.net

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201110271543597055C052&s_code=C052