[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is launching the Asan Bay Circular Railway construction project.
The province announced on the 31st that it held a kickoff meeting for the preliminary feasibility study service regarding the Asan Bay Circular Railway construction project at the Cheonan-Asan Win-Win Cooperation Center.
The Asan Bay Circular Railway is a 103.7 km railway line connecting the areas of Cheonan, Asan, and Dangjin in Chungnam and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province in an oval shape, and it is expected to serve as a core railway transportation network for the Bay Valley Mega City (hereinafter Mega City).
The construction project aims to be completed by 2035 with a budget of 961.8 billion KRW.
The province expects that once this line is completed, it will improve railway transportation convenience within the region and support the attraction of advanced companies located in the metropolitan area to Chungnam.
In particular, the Asan Bay Circular Railway has the advantage of minimizing construction costs and time by utilizing existing lines such as the Gyeongbu Line and Janghang Line.
The service is being undertaken by the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Seoul National University of Science and Technology and Donghae Engineering Corporation and will be carried out until the end of this year. Through this service, the province plans to find the economic feasibility and justification of the Asan Bay Circular Railway and explore ways to realize the project through technical analysis.
After the service is completed, the province will focus on ensuring that the Asan Bay Circular Railway is newly included in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s next national railway network construction plan.
A provincial official said, “Through the service, we will find the optimal route plan and subsequently reflect it in the national railway network plan so that the core transportation infrastructure of the Mega City can be expanded early.”
Meanwhile, the Mega City is a large-scale plan to develop the Asan Bay area, which covers the northern part of Chungnam and the southern part of Gyeonggi Province, into a leading hub of Korea’s 4th industrial revolution, including semiconductors, displays, and the hydrogen economy.
The Asan Bay area is densely populated with 3.3 million people, 230,000 companies, and 34 universities. The GRDP reaches 204 trillion KRW.
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