en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea announced that the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board has issued an arbitration decision regarding the increase in total project cost for the privately-invested Seoul Metropolitan Area Wide-Express Rail Transit C Line (GTX-C) project. The original total project cost for this high-speed rail project was set at 4.6084 trillion won (as of the end of 2019). The construction consortium requested an adjustment to reflect rising material costs and labor expenses, arguing for an increase in the project cost. The construction industry estimates the additional amount to be in the range of hundreds of billions of won.

The GTX-C high-speed rail project received implementation plan approval in December 2023 but has been delayed due to the failure to finalize a construction contract. Disagreements existed between the private project implementer, GTX-C Co., Ltd., and the construction consortium led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Construction, regarding the extent of the cost adjustment. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine situation led to a sharp rise in construction costs between 2021 and 2022, which was not covered by the original budget. This arbitration ruling provides a basis for resolving the cost dispute for this high-speed rail project.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that, based on the arbitration result, the increase in the total project cost requires a modification procedure to the implementation agreement. The project implementer indicated that, given the prolonged delay of the high-speed rail project, it would first deploy construction supervision and on-site personnel. Preliminary work such as obstacle removal and fence installation will begin in workable sections from the end of this month. Kim Tae-byeong, Director General of the Railway Bureau at the Ministry, said, "Regarding the arbitration ruling, we will ensure appropriate project costs to leave no gaps in construction safety management." The high-speed rail project is expected to formally enter the construction phase after completing administrative procedures.

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