Promotion of Domestic Development for 15 Key Railway Components... Expanding Competitiveness in the Global Market

Project Duration 6 Years, 127 Billion KRW of National Funding Invested

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 6th that it will actively promote the 'Railway Vehicle Parts Research and Development Project' to expand the localization of major railway vehicle parts and strengthen international competitiveness in the global railway market.

This project involves the research and development of 15 types of core railway vehicle parts. The project period is six years until December 2025, with a national budget of 127 billion KRW allocated.

The railway vehicle parts research and development project is composed of detailed tasks to research and develop a total of 15 parts in two main focus areas: 'market-entry type parts localization' and 'future market-leading parts development.'

Through this research and development, 10 core parts of the distributed power high-speed trains (EMU-250, EMU-320), which will replace the KTX as Korea's next-generation main high-speed trains, 3 parts for urban railway vehicles, and 1 part each for trams and logistics vehicles will be developed by 2025.

The global railway market is valued at 232 trillion KRW and belongs to a high-growth industry sector with an average annual growth rate of 2.6%. The railway vehicle parts market is worth 72 trillion KRW, accounting for 31% of the total railway market.

However, Korea's market share in railway vehicle parts is only 900 billion KRW, which is just 1.3% of the global railway vehicle parts market. Most domestic parts companies are small and medium-sized enterprises, making the development of the parts industry an urgent matter.

Kang Hee-eop, Director of Railway Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We plan to continuously support the development of the railway vehicle parts industry in the future," adding, "We hope that this parts development project will foster nationally representative small and strong enterprises equipped with independent technological capabilities and management skills."