Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 Opening Delayed Again... Phase 2 Postponed Five Years to 2035

Phase 1 Also Delayed by One Year to December 2028
Total Project Cost Rises to 3.243 Trillion Won, Up 1.5036 Trillion Won from Initial Estimate

The opening of Phase 1 of Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 has been delayed by one year to December 2028, while Phase 2 has been pushed back by five years to December 2035. Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City is considering an option to open an 11.9-kilometer section between Yangsan, Cheomdan, Suwan, and Singa from Phase 2 ahead of schedule, targeting April 2034.

On October 2, Jeonnam Gwangju Integrated Special City announced the results of its re-examination of both the construction progress and the total project cost for Line 2.

Baemikyung, spokesperson for Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City, is announcing the opening schedule of Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 and the plan for the partial opening of the second phase at a briefing room in City Hall on the 2nd. Photo by Bohyun Song

A dedicated task force consisting of the supervisory team and other experts carried out a comprehensive review of the project. As a result, the Phase 1 opening was found to be delayed by one year—from the initially scheduled December 2027 to December 2028. This is due to construction delays caused by unforeseen bedrock and buried obstacles discovered during construction, as well as further adjustments required in subsequent works, such as architecture, machinery, electricity, communications, signaling, vehicle manufacturing, and trial operations.

The opening date for Phase 2 has also been postponed by five years, from December 2030 to December 2035. This is a result of factors such as the redesign of Section 13 in the Suwan district due to route changes, the Section 7 Chonnam National University rear gate segment that is currently under discussion for total cost after five failed tenders and supplemental designs, and ongoing construction in Section 10 at the Bonchon Industrial Complex.

With the full Phase 2 opening delayed, the city has been reviewing an option to open some sections ahead of time. The 11–14 section (11.9 kilometers) stretching from Yangsan-dong through Cheomdan, Suwan, and Singa, which includes nine stations, is expected to be ready for opening in April 2034.

However, the plan for partial opening has not been finalized. Since this is a fundamental revision involving changes to the operating plan and increased project costs, the decision will be made after consultation with central government ministries. Meanwhile, the roads along the priority opening section are slated to be open to the public by the first half of 2030 in order to minimize inconveniences during the construction period. For Phase 1, all road sections have already been fully opened.

The project budget has increased significantly. The total project cost for Urban Railway Line 2 has risen by 1.5036 trillion won, from the original 1.7394 trillion won to 3.243 trillion won. Of the increase, rising material and labor costs account for 1.0021 trillion won (66.6%), changes in construction methods account for 354.7 billion won (23.6%), and design adjustments and shifts in field conditions have added another 146.8 billion won (9.8%).

The Special City has decided to manage the construction schedule based on the remaining stages and will also adjust annual investment plans accordingly. The city will manage key processes that directly affect the opening schedule separately and plans to release monthly updates on construction progress to the public.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.