Wirye Sinsa Line Drifts Again... Project Cost Raised but Still Fails

The 'Wirye Sinsa Line,' connecting the Gangnam area of Seoul and Wirye New Town, is currently adrift as it has failed to find a new operator.

Wirye Sinsa Line Map (Provided by Seoul City)

According to Seoul City on the 26th, the city announced a call for operators to undertake the Wirye Sinsa Line private investment project last month, but no companies submitted applications by the deadline the day before, resulting in the bid being canceled.

In June, the previous preferred negotiator, GS Construction, gave up on the project after conflicts with the city over increased construction costs. Consequently, Seoul City increased the budget from 1.4847 trillion won to 1.7605 trillion won, about a 19% increase, and reopened the call for operators. The price reference date was changed from December 2015 to December 2023 to reflect changes in consumer prices.

However, construction companies reportedly hesitated to participate, judging that the increased construction costs still made the project unprofitable. Considering the sharp rise in construction costs over several years, they deemed the increase insufficient. It is known that two construction companies submitted inquiries about the bidding announcement after the call, but these did not lead to applications.

Seoul City initially stated that if the private investment project failed, it would proceed by directly investing the budget, but it has changed its policy to reannounce the bid in October. The city stated, "Since the Ministry of Economy and Finance is scheduled to announce measures to revitalize private investment projects in early October, we plan to reflect this and proceed with the reannouncement." The city is expected to consult with the government to further increase the project budget.

The Wirye Sinsa Line is a 14.7 km light rail line connecting Sinsa Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and Wirye New Town in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. It has been a long-standing wish of the residents of Wirye New Town, who suffer from traffic congestion, but since its initiation in 2008, construction has yet to begin. The original operator, the Samsung C&T consortium, abandoned the project in 2016, and GS Construction, which took over, also withdrew, causing setbacks.