KNR takes haphazard approach to electric rail project: BAI

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) accused the Korea National Railroad (KNR) of taking a haphazard approach to the 47.7 trillion won electric railroad project that is due for completion in 2020.

The BAI said Sunday it notified the KNR and other relevant institutions of the 29 cases of administrative negligence it had found in the process of inspecting the electric railroad project from Aug. 23 to Sept. 22 last year.

According to the BAI, the KNR pushed the project without even setting up a department to take charge of the overall effort, even though the project calls for the implementation of work by sectors, including operations, signals and communication, rolling stocks, and stations and railroads.

In the Chochiwon-Taejon section of the line, through which both the Honam and Kyongbu lines pass, the construction of electric tracks for the Honam Line is scheduled to be completed in December 2003 at a cost of 875.5 billion won. But the operation of the super-speed electric railroad will be impossible for the next year as the Kyongbu Line is to be finished in December 2004. The double-track project between Chongryangni and Wonju on the Choongang Line was implemented without a government-led feasibility study.

Under the project, the KNR will extend the total length of the railroad from the present 3,120km to 5,164km, and electrify 86% of the total or 4,440km of track.

Ha Tae-Won scooop@donga.com