There was a lot of talk about falling house prices… In the end, the hippopotamus falls into debt and eats tax

[세금 먹는 하마]The nation’s arm also finds where blood tax is wasted. Record the content reported on-site. <편집자 주>

A large-scale national project with a total project cost of 1 trillion won and 130 billion won each for national and local expenses. The first case in which the court admitted that residents could directly file a lawsuit against the head of a local government who wasted taxes by pursuing a lazy business. It’s about the Yongin light railroad.

Yongin City began construction of the light railroad in 2005 and opened the light railroad in April 2013. The Korea Transport Institute, which was in charge of the project feasibility study, predicted that the number of passengers per day in the first year of the light rail service was 160,000. However, the number of daily users is limited to 30,000. The Yongin light rail situation where the deficit is growing <한경닷컴>I found this myself and confirmed it.

Only Giheung Station is crowded… The number of getting on and off at other stations is reduced

The Yongin Light Rail, called the’Yongin Everline’, runs for 30 minutes in a section of 18.143km from 15 stations such as Giheung, Dongbaek, Chodang, Yongin University, Myeongji University, Gojin, Bopyeong, Jeondae and Everland. With 100% unmanned driving, 30 trains that can accommodate 226 people at a time run every 6-10 minutes from 5:30 am to midnight every day.

In the case of the reporters’ finding on December 31, last year, trains departing from Giheung had more and fewer people getting off the train as they passed the station. It is known that the average number of users per day is around 30,000, but it was more slack.

Kim Mo (47), a citizen who met at Kimryangjang Station while boarding at Giheung Station and heading for Jeondae/Everland Station, said, “The light railroad is a business that has been talked a lot from the time it came in. Giheung is a relatively downtown area, so people get on and off a lot. There aren’t many.”

The number of people getting on and off was fewer in the direction from Jeondae-Everland Station to Giheung. Citizen Yoon-mo (51, female), who met at Bopyeong Station, also said, “Because there is, the subway would not be better than the light railroad,” he said. “I was noisy about falling house prices from the beginning, but in the end, aren’t they leaving only debt?”

In the past 5 years, income was 36 billion won and expenditure was 150 billion won… Is there any alternative

Yongin Light Rail has been losing money every year. By year, it was identified as △27 billion won in 2015 △22 billion won in 2016 △23 billion won in 2017 △20 billion won in 2018 △19.9 billion won in 2019.

The most encouraging thing is that the number of passengers using the Yongin light rail is increasing. The average number of users per day for the past five years was △23,000 in 2015 △25,000 in 2016 △27,000 in 2017 △30000 in 2018 △33,000 in 2019. The annual number of users increased from 8.5 million in 2015 to 12 million in 2019.

Until now, the total project cost was 1 trillion won, but Yongin City should invest 27 billion won in Yongin Light Rail next year. The majority of subsidies for loss are provided to private businesses operating light railroads.

The Yongin Light Rail, which is always mentioned as a representative tax waste case with the continuing deficit, is not likely to recover.

Gwangju City, Yongin City, and Anseong City, which signed the “Mutual Growth Cooperation Agreement for Early Promotion of Gyeonggang Line Double Track Extension” in July last year, extended the Gyeonggang Line (Samdong-Yongin, Gwangju) to the “4th National Rail Network Construction Plan (2021-2030)” ~Anseong) Has been suggested to reflect the business. However, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs argues that the preliminary feasibility study is likely to fall and cannot be reflected. However, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs believes that the step-by-step implementation can be reviewed.

The amendment is expected to invest about 1 trillion won. Samdong Station~Everland~(Yongin) Sports Complex Gyeonggang Line is the main focus. In this case, the effect of transferring to the Gyeonggang Line of Yongin Light Rail can be obtained.

Rep. Chung Chan-min (Yong In-gap) suggested that the extension to Anseong should be re-implemented in the future, and that only the (Yongin) Sports Complex should be reflected first in this 4th national rail network plan. It is also known that So Byung-hoon, a Democratic Party member (Kwang Joo-gap), also agreed.

Jo Jun-hyuk, reporter at Hankyung.com [email protected]