Gyeonggi Province's First Tram Line 'Dongtan Urban Railway' Blueprint Emerges... Basic Plan Approval to be Requested on 22nd

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province has finalized the 'Dongtan Urban Railway Basic Plan (draft)' and applied for approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee on the 22nd.

With this, the Dongtan Urban Railway project, which will introduce the province's first new transit system, is expected to get back on track.

The 'Dongtan Urban Railway' is part of the metropolitan transportation improvement plan for Dongtan 2 New City, and it is a project to introduce trams across two sections spanning from Mangpo Station in Suwon~Dongtan Station~Osan Station and Byeongjeom Station~Dongtan Station~Vehicle Depot with total project costs of 977.3 billion won.

According to this basic plan (draft), the number of stations will be 36, consisting of 19 stations from Mangpo to Osan and 17 from Byeongjeom to Dongtan 2, with a total length of 34.2km.

The plan has been designed to make tram access sufficiently convenient on foot in most areas.

Additionally, the plan connects with transfer stations of major rail networks including the Bundang Line (Mangpo Station), Line 1 (Osan Station, Byeongjeom Station), and GTX-A·SRT (Dongtan Station), enabling Dongtan New City residents to reach Seoul's Samsung Station in average 35 minutes through transfers.

The trams to be deployed on the route will be composed of 5 modules per formation and can accommodate 246 passengers, providing superior transportation capacity compared to existing transit systems.

The system is advantageous in terms of reducing carbon emissions and transportation energy consumption, and has the benefit of being convenient for users with mobility challenges.

To this end, the province signed a memorandum of understanding with Hwaseong City and Osan City in February of last year and has been conducting feasibility assessments and planning studies.

Furthermore, the province established a working council involving not only the signatory cities but also Suwon City, gathering opinions from experts and relevant institutions and expeditiously implementing administrative procedures such as public hearings, thereby producing this basic plan (draft) in just 10 months.

Notably, through these various opinion-gathering procedures, the province reflected in the basic plan an extension of the 1.8km section from Suwon's Mangpo Station to Hwaseong's Banwol-dong, which was not included in the original plan, thereby focusing on significantly expanding demand and convenience for rail users.

Once the basic plan (draft) is approved and announced by the Metropolitan Area Wide-Area Transportation Committee in the first half of this year, the province plans to commence construction in 2023 with target completion by 2027, going through basic and detailed design procedures. Design and construction as well as operations will be led by Hwaseong City with active cooperation from Osan City and Suwon City.

The specific tram vehicle system (battery-type, hydrogen fuel cell-type, etc.) and station configuration (open-type, closed-type) will be determined in the design phase following consultation with residents and experts as well as trends in technological development.

Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Railway and Port Logistics Division, stated, "There were many difficulties including financing during the basic plan establishment process, but we were able to establish the basic plan through cooperation and agreement among relevant institutions," and added, "Since the Dongtan Tram is a project being pursued for the first time in our province, we will do our best to enhance the prestige of Dongtan New City and serve as a model for a European-style pedestrian-friendly city."

Previously, Governor Lee Jae-myung stated at the signing ceremony in February last year, "We are well aware that securing infrastructure is crucial for improving the quality of life of our province's residents," and pledged, "We will ensure this project proceeds swiftly and without problems at the provincial level."