"GTX-A Ridership Forecast Less Than Half... Delays in Construction of Other GTX Lines"[2024 National Audit]

GTX-A Usage Rate at 40-50% of Expected
GTX-C Funding Not Raised, Project Delayed

Lee Yeon-hee, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Concerns are rising that the construction of the metropolitan area wide express railroad (GTX) may be delayed due to poor ridership performance and difficulties in fundraising by the project operators.

According to data received by Lee Yeon-hee, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 11th, the number of passengers using the GTX-A Suseo-Dongtan section since its opening on March 30 was less than half of the expected figure.

For about six months after the opening, the GTX-A Suseo-Dongtan section was used by 9,648 passengers on weekdays and 8,346 on weekends and holidays. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had predicted demand of 21,523 passengers on weekdays and 16,788 on holidays, meaning only 45% of the forecasted weekday ridership and 50% of the weekend ridership actually used GTX-A.

GTX-A is a line connecting Paju Unjeong to Dongtan, with the Paju Unjeong-Seoul section scheduled to open by the end of the year. By 2028, the entire line will be accessible up to Samseong Station. The Ministry expects ridership to increase after the 'ramp-up' period during which passengers become accustomed to GTX and once Samseong Station is operational.

However, concerns about construction delays have been raised as the Yeongdong-daero Complex Development Section 2 construction project related to the opening of Samseong Station has failed to attract bids six times. According to the Ministry and SG Rail, the GTX-A operator, the government must compensate SG Rail for operating profit losses caused by the delayed opening of Samseong Station from the time the Unjeong-Seoul section opens later this year until Samseong Station opens. The project was able to proceed with a sole bid from Hyundai Construction in July.

The GTX-C line project has yet to break ground due to the project operators’ inability to secure sufficient funds. Although 3.4211 trillion won has been raised for this project, there is still a shortfall of 290 billion won. A Ministry official stated that "fundraising for the GTX-C project will be completed as much as possible this year, with construction starting next year." Considering the 60-month construction period, the opening date will be postponed from the original 2028 to 2029.

Assembly member Lee said, "I wonder if the difficulties in fundraising are due to the demand forecast failure, opening delays, and increased construction costs of the GTX-A line," adding, "I am concerned that problems arising during the GTX project implementation may negatively affect metropolitan area wide express railroads in other regions."