Tunnelling of first GTX-A section complete

Another milestone for the GTX project was announced just before the new year — one of many to come over the next few years.

On December 29, MOLIT announced that the final tunnel “breakthrough” had been made from Samsung Station to Dongtan Station. This includes the first section scheduled to open in the first half of 2023 from Suseo to Dongtan.

What’s special about this section?

Aside from the fact that it will be opening first, it’s also part of the existing SRT route that operates out of Suseo Station in the south of Seoul. This means that 30km of track was already built, in addition to 9km of new underground track.

The GTX-A project is split into two main parts, with the Samsung-Dongtan section being led by the government and built by Korea National Railway (KR). It’s estimated the 39.8km route will cost a total of 2.69 trillion won.

The remaining section of the GTX-A route from Unjeong (Paju) to Seoul is being built by SG Rail as part of a private consortium.

New GTX station plans released

Along with the tunneling announcement, MOLIT also released station plans for four stations along the section.

These include a separate station for GTX services at Suseo, the current terminus for the SRT, while at Dongtan, services will share the same existing station. Two additional GTX stations, Seongnam and Yongin, are also being built.

Following the launch of the first GTX-A trains in December 2022, MOLIT has reiterated that it intends open the first phase of the GTX-A from Suseo to Dongtan in the first half of 2024.

Trips on this first phase of the route are expected to take a mere 19 minutes and will mean a much faster trip for commuters. Currently a trip from Dongtan to Suseo takes approximately 80 minutes using a combination of bus and metro services.

The northern section of the GTX-A Line from Samseong to Unjeong in Paju is being built by SG Rail, with Unjeong to Seoul Station expected to open in the latter half of 2024. The line is expected to open in its entirety from Unjeong to Dongtan by 2028.

So if tunnelling has been completed up to Samseong, why isn’t it opening with the other stations?

As mentioned in our previous article, the Samseong Station isn’t planned to open until 2028. One of the reasons is the massive construction that will be taking place directly above the tunnel for the huge Yeongdong-daero Transfer Complex, opening in the same year.

Government continues to push project forward

There are bound to be a lot of developments around this project over the coming year, as the government continues to emphasise the project’s importance and push for it to be completed on time.

Recently the Vice Minister of MOLIT visited one of the GTX construction sites, followed by a conference on January 11 between MOLIT and city/regional officials to outline plans for the upcoming year.

Milestones outlined included:

• Beginning test operations and completion of tunnelling for the remaining section of the GTX-A in the latter half of 2023.
  
• Planning of the government-built section for the GTX-B line, and selection of candidate to built the remainder of the line. Both in January 2023.
  
• Complete analysis of BTL viability for GTX-C in February, then finalise contracts and begin works in the latter half of 2023.

See our previous posts about the GTX project

• First GTX-A train delivered by Hyundai Rotem (Dec 2022)
• First GTX line to fully open in 2023, construction to begin next year (2017)