Seoul's Wirye line tram unveiled

 

 

Seoul, South Korea, is building a new standard-gauge tramway under the Wirye Line Urban Railway Construction Project. This is designed to make connections to the Wirye New Town residential area in the south-east suburbs, providing links to three metro stations on lines 5 and 8. The 5.44km 12-stop line will be the first tramway in the city for 57 years and will be worked by 10 five-section low-floor trams built by HyundaiRotem/Woojin Industrial Systems, using battery power charged from a fuel cell. The first of these trams was unveiled at the factory on 2 July. The total cost of the project is SKW 261.4bn (USD 194.4M); construction started in 2022 and is 80% complete, with the target of opening in September 2025. One possible cause for delay are differences between the Metropolitan Government (builder and operator) and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency over the legal status of the tramway operating on the highway. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been asked to adjudicate on differences between the Road Traffic Act and the Railway Safety Act. 

 

Seoul operated a first-generation tramway from 1899 to 1968.