Partial Opening of AREX

Hyundai E&C leads express rail project linking Gimpo, Incheon Int'l airports

AREX, the commuter rail linking Kimpo Airport and the Incheon International Airport has began operating partially from March 23 as a result of nearly decade long work on the railroad by a consortium of construction companies led by Hyundai Engineering and Construction, the company said recently.
The section of the rail line opened to the public stretching for 40.3 km links Kimpo and Incheon airports, taking only 28 minutes to travel.
The railroad some 61 km long was built by a consortium of construction firms led by Hyundai E&C on a build, operate and transfer basis for 30 years. The railroad is similar to Heathrow Express linking Heathrow Airport and London and Narita Express transporting passengers from Narita airport to Tokyo.
The consortium includes Bechtel of the United States and Alsthom of France, which are known for their advanced expertise in building technologies, which makes the railroad a representative facility in Asia with top service and systems.
At Kimpo No. 5 Line subway station, passengers can transfer to AREX rail heading to Incheon airport with six stations along the way including Geyang Station, Gumam Station where the airport rail line control room is located and Unseo Station on Yeongjong Island. For passengers who want to head directly to Incheon airport, they can take an express train from Kimpo paying 7,900 won per trip. The fee is lower than those charged on buses and taxis, but the train travels faster than subway trains as it moves at about the same speed with Mugungwha trains about 70km/hour.
Hyundai Construction has won the project to build Shin Gori Nos. 3 and 4 nuclear power plants, beating two other bidders. The nuke power plants, which are new models, advanced power reactor 1400 Mw will put the construction company in a competitive position to bid for similar nuke power stations any where as the model is the latest one likely to make up most of nuke power plants to be built around the world. The two new nuke power plants will be completed in 2013.
The company, in the meantime, won the One Shenton Residential Development Project from City Development Ltd. In Singapore for $99 million. The company feels it was a good start for its target to win $3 billion worth of construction projects overseas this year. The company said it was able to win the project due to the recognition for its construction expertise gained in Singapore by completing a number of large building projects there including the Home Park Condo, beating competitors from France and Japan. The company was put in a good position to win other projects in Singapore including those to be ordered by Sentosa and Marina Bayfront areas.
The company's history is synonymous with that of Korea's construction industry development as it has been a driving force behind the astounding growth of the industry since its establishment in 1947. The builder, as its founder late Chung Ju-yung intended, brought heart and soul in managing its operation infused with a pioneering and creative spirit to all of its areas of operation; civil engineering, construction, plant and electrical works.
Since entering the overseas construction market in 1965, HDEC has earned a worldwide reputation by completing a great number of large construction projects successfully in a timely, efficient and cost effective manner.
HDEC's overseas projects accounted for one/fourth of Korea's total in the past four decades, roughly amounting to $49,629 million as of April. The company posted record-high earnings every year since 2000 focusing on high-profit projects and cost cutting. The company was officially taken off from the debt-work out program as a result of the stringent management policies, turning the operation around on May 25, emerging fresh from four and half years of restructuring program under its creditor banks.
HDEC President-CEO Lee Jong-soo recalled, "Operating income, net income, and share value all rose dramatically to such an extent that we ranked first in market value in our field of industry. The success is owed to our insistence on profit-oriented management. Other contributing factors were a significant improvement in our cost of sales to sales ratio and a steep decline in interest and commission expense." nw

(photo from above): A train ready for a test-run of AREX.: Hyundai E&C President Lee Jong-soo talks with a reporter on a test run of AREX.