Second Reannouncement of Wirye Sinsa Line Also Failed... Converted to Financial Investment Project

Despite Increased Budget and Improved Project Conditions, Bid Fails
Plan to Include in 2025 First Half Urban Rail Network Construction Plan as a Financial Investment Project

The Seoul Metropolitan Government increased the project budget for the Wirye-Sinsa Line and changed the project conditions to issue a second re-announcement, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.

Wirye Sinsa Line Route Map (Photo by Seoul City)

On the 4th, Seoul announced that despite increasing the project budget to 1.838 trillion KRW and relaxing the qualification conditions for project proposers to select a negotiation partner for the Wirye-Sinsa Line, the second re-announcement ultimately failed.

The city decided to proceed with the Wirye-Sinsa Line project as a fiscal investment project. When announced in June, it was stated that the project would be pursued as a private investment project, but if no private investors participated, it would be converted to a fiscal investment project.

The city plans to complete the ongoing urban railway network construction plan (revision) service and submit it to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for approval in the first half of next year. Since June, the city has been promoting the "2nd Urban Railway Network Construction Plan" in preparation for converting the project to a fiscal investment project, alongside the third-party proposal re-announcement.

In June, GS Construction, the previous preferred negotiation partner, gave up on the project after conflicts with the city over increased construction costs. The city increased the project budget by about 19%, from 1.4847 trillion KRW to 1.7605 trillion KRW, to recruit a project operator, and further increased it to 1.838 trillion KRW in the second re-announcement, but failed to attract any operators. The construction period was extended by one year in the first announcement, and the qualification conditions for project proposers were relaxed starting from the second announcement.

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 Samsung C&T consortium abandoned the project in 2016, and GS Construction also withdrew afterward.