KR Likely to Enter Polish High-Speed Railway Market

A map of high-speed railway routes with a combined 1,800 km in length, connecting a new airport, which will replace Warsaw Chopin Airport. (Photos: KR)

A consortium, led by Korea National Railway (KR), was selected as the winner of a 43 billion won design consulting service bid for a high-speed rail link between Katowice and Ostrava, which was ordered by Solidarity Transport Hub (STH) in February 2023.

The signing of a contract is pending, KR said on May 23.

Since 2020, Poland has been pushing ahead with projects to build high-speed railway routes with a combined 1,800 km in length, connecting a new airport, which will replace Warsaw Chopin Airport, and major hub cities.

The Katowice-Ostrava section whose design service will be done by KR will be part of a European international railway network linking Poland and the Czech Republic.

KR formed the “K-consortium” with Dohwa Engineering to compete in the design and supervision areas of Poland’s high-speed project.

The KR consortium made a feat of passing a pre-qualification review by competing with leading global players of France and Sweden.

The Korean side held the “Korean-Polish High-Speed Railway Technology Cooperation Forum” in Warsaw in April 2022.

The forum, designed to introduce Korea’s railway technology to Europe with higher market entry barriers, was part of KR’s full-fledged efforts to land the project.

The K-consortium’s winning of the design consulting service order was a first positive outcome from three attempts made by Korean side, based on KR’s rich high-speed project management experiences and Dohwa Engineering’s design capabilities.

It is expected to serve as an opportunity for Korean companies to participate in more high-speed railway projects, to be awarded by Poland and its surrounding countries in the future on a gradual basis.

KR Chairman Kim Han-young said, “This achievement means that Korea’s technology power status has reached levels, standing shoulder to shoulder with European advanced countries of railway and KR, the Korean railway industry’s representative public entity, will lead continued support and technology development so Korean companies can enter overseas railway markets.”

KR, MOE and KEITI Strike MOU to Spur Issuance of Green Bonds

Korea National Railway, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) signed an MOU to facilitate the issuance of Korean green bonds.

The latest agreement came after KR was designated in a project to pilot the interest subsidy for issuing green bonds to boost green finance by MOE in March.

KR plans to issue an initial 30 billion won green bond and expand its issuance on a gradual basis.

Green bonds are those whose issuing funds are used for green activities, as defined in the K-Taxonomy Guideline, and must be issued in compliance with the Green Bond Guidelines.

A map of the Pohang-Samcheok Railway Line route.

A map on the Pohang-Donghae Electrified Railway Line route.

KR Sets Aside 610.6 Billion Won for Nine Railway Projects in Yeongnam Sphere in 2023

Korea National Railway will invest a combine 610.6 billion won in nine railway projects in the Yeongnam area this year to improve transportation convenience by expanding national railway networks.

KR will front-load 372.5 billion won, accounting for 61 percent of the total project costs in the first half of the year, to invigorate the sagging regional economy.

The two general railway projects in the Yeongnam sphere area in which a combined 442.9 billion won will be invested this year involve a project to build a railway route connecting Pohang and Samcheok on the Donghae Line, and another on an electrified railway connecting Pohang and Donghae.