[단독]’Pyeongtaek~Osong double track’ to break through bottlenecks, ankle in evacuation facility of 190 billion won

Due to insufficient track capacity, the construction of two double tracks in the’Pyeongtaek-Osong’ section, which is causing the bottleneck of high-speed trains, is likely to be delayed by at least 2-3 years. This is because the Ministry of Strategy and Finance began reviewing the adequacy as the project cost increased significantly due to the late addition of rescue facilities for passenger evacuation and rescue in case of emergency.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the railroad industry on the 17th, the Ministry of Information and Transportation and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) have been looking into the adequacy of the’Pyeongtaek-Osong Double Track Project Plan’ since October last year. The project to open a new double-track tunnel in the basement of the 45.7 km section between Pyeongtaek and Osong has a total project cost of 3.77 trillion won, and the completion target is 2024.

In the meantime, it was not successful due to lack of economic feasibility, but was selected as a preliminary feasibility study exemption project in January 2019, and it became possible to promote it. It is in progress as a financial project built on budget.

Currently, the high-speed trains KTX and SRT departing from Seoul Station, Yongsan Station and Suseo Station meet near Pyeongtaek. In addition, the high-speed trains that left Busan and Mokpo merge at Osong. However, in the section between Pyeongtaek and Osong, where high-speed trains rush, the capacity of the track is only half of the required amount, creating a bottleneck. This is why the number of trips cannot be increased.

The solution is to increase the capacity by installing an additional double-track railway between Pyeongtaek and Osong. In this way, more high-speed trains can be added to various routes, and the recently started KTX from Incheon and Suwon can be operated smoothly.

This project passed a review of the adequacy of the business plan by the Ministry of Science and Technology in August 2019, and started the basic plan establishment service in November of that year. However, he was caught in a rescue facility. According to the’Technical Standards for Railroad Facilities’, a rescue facility must be installed for long tunnels with a length of 15 km or more.

Rescue facilities refer to a rescue platform to evacuate and rescue passengers in the event of an emergency situation in the tunnel, and a ground connection tunnel including an emergency elevator. An additional 190 billion won will be added to install this facility in the basement of KTX Cheonan-Asan Station. This is the reason why the Ministry of Materials and Materials began to review the adequacy.

An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, “It was planned to use the dead mine installed during construction as an evacuation facility, but it was pointed out that separate measures were needed, and according to the results of the analysis, a rescue facility was added.” The previously prepared business plan adequacy review report also stated that a thorough review of disaster prevention measures such as the installation of a rescue station is necessary.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport predicts that the review will end in the first half of this year. However, business delays seem inevitable. An official in the railroad industry who requested anonymity predicted, “Even if the review is over, considering the period of basic plan establishment, basic design, and detailed design, construction can start in 2-3 years as soon as possible, and the completion will be in 2027 or 2028.”

If the project is delayed, not only will the bottleneck resolution be delayed, but also the operation of KTX departing from Incheon and Suwon, which is scheduled to open at the end of 2024, will have a significant problem. KTX departing from Incheon and Suwon plans to operate trains 18 times a day (one way basis), but due to the lack of tracks, it is inevitable to significantly reduce it for a considerable period of time.

In addition, it is pointed out that it is difficult to avoid the inconvenience of train users in many ways because the number of high-speed trains departing from Seoul Station, Yongsan Station, and Suseo Station must be reduced in order to operate a part of the KTX departing Incheon and Suwon. Min-tae Kim, head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “As expected, the completion will not be delayed so much,” and “we are preparing a measure.”

Transportation reporter Gap-saeng Kang [email protected]