Wirye Line Tram Opening This Year Falls Through; Safety Inspection to Be Completed by March Next Year

[Financial News] The Wirye Line tram, which had been scheduled to open in December this year, will not open before year-end. Although overall construction is 97% complete and work on major facilities has been finished, mandatory pre-opening procedures have been delayed by disagreements among relevant agencies over safety management standards for sections where trams share the road with cars and pedestrians. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to complete a safety assessment by March next year and, after completing the subsequent procedures, announce a confirmed opening schedule in the first half of next year. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 28th that it had resolved disagreements among relevant agencies over the installation of traffic safety facilities for the Wirye Line tram and had begun follow-up procedures, including a traffic facility safety assessment.
The Wirye Line tram is a 5.4-kilometer route connecting Macheon Station on Seoul Subway Line 5 with Bokjeong Station on Seoul Subway Line 8 and the Suin–Bundang Line, and Namwirye Station on Seoul Subway Line 8. It will have 12 stops and one vehicle depot, with eight trainsets scheduled to operate. The tram will use a catenary-free system powered by batteries installed on the roofs of its vehicles, allowing it to run without overhead wires.
The main reason for the opening delay is differing interpretations of the legal status of the tram's operating sections. About 1.2 kilometers of the route is shared with pedestrians, and there are 13 intersections with regular roads. Because the tram tracks function as railway facilities while also overlapping with roads, relevant agencies disagreed over the standards for installing and reviewing traffic safety facilities.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it has been consulting with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on plans to install safety facilities since August 2022. After consulting with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it revised the project plan to designate the tram operating sections as both roads and railway, and also obtained an interpretation from the Ministry of Government Legislation that the sections would retain their status as roads. However, the city said delays in the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's traffic safety review made it difficult to meet the original opening target.
A breakthrough came through conflict mediation by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Transport Commission on September 1. The commission arranged for the tram operating sections to be designated as roads and for a public institution to conduct a traffic facility safety assessment, after which the police would carry out their traffic safety review in light of the results.
Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government completed the road designation and public notice process for the sections in Songpa District and Seongnam-si. It signed a contract with the Korea Road Traffic Authority on the 14th and has begun the safety assessment.
Construction is virtually complete. As of October, overall progress on the Wirye Line tram stood at 97%, with work on major infrastructure, including tracks, stops and the vehicle depot, finished. All vehicles needed for operations have also been delivered, and tests are now underway to verify the performance and safety of the railway facilities.
However, even after the safety assessment is completed in March next year, facilities will need to be modified in line with the results of the police traffic safety review, and the project must undergo legally required procedures, including a comprehensive railway test run.
To prevent further delays, the city asked the Metropolitan Transport Commission to form a consultative body of relevant agencies. It plans to incorporate the views of the police and other relevant agencies from the safety assessment stage and to carry out simultaneously any procedures that can run in parallel, including the traffic safety review and comprehensive railway test runs. The city said it would announce a specific opening date in the first half of next year.
Im Chun-geun, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, said, “I apologize to the citizens who have waited so long, as the opening has been delayed by the work to ensure safety and put legal and institutional arrangements in place for the introduction of Korea's first tram. We have made extensive efforts to consult with relevant agencies and resolve institutional issues. We will carry out the remaining safety procedures swiftly and thoroughly and minimize further delays so that citizens can use the tram with peace of mind.”

[email protected] Seong Chorong Reporter