It is reported that a Spanish rail car company is preparing to enter the Korean high-speed rail market.
There is an expectation that competition in the domestic high-speed rail market, which has been monopolized by Hyundai Rotem, Korea's only high-speed rail vehicle manufacturer, will increase, but if the domestic rail industry, which has been nurtured by investing huge taxes to develop technology, gives a 'home' to foreign companies, There is a high risk of losing competitiveness.
According to the railroad industry today (31st), Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) is planning to announce a tender for a total of 136 high-speed vehicles, including 120 vehicles for the Osong Line 'EMU-320', as early as next month.
It is reported that 'Talgo', a Spanish rail car manufacturer, is considering participating in the KORAIL bid by forming a consortium with a domestic company.
If Talgo participates in the bidding, domestic and foreign companies will compete to win high-speed rail orders in 'Anbang' for the first time in 17 years since 2005.
Hyundai Rotem was selected as the final winner in the high-speed vehicle business ordered by KORAIL in 2005, beating Alstom, a French rail car manufacturer.
Talgo, headquartered in Madrid, Spain, has a record of exporting high-speed vehicles, but it is known that there is no record of manufacturing and delivery of power-dispersed high-speed vehicles.
On the other hand, Hyundai Rotem has produced and delivered power-dispersive KTX-joints based on national policy support.
High-speed vehicles are divided into power-intensive and power-distributed types.
The power distribution type is evaluated as having an excellent acceleration/deceleration performance as the power unit is distributed at the bottom of each vehicle, and has a comparative advantage over the power concentration type in terms of transportation capacity and ease of maintenance.
Talgo is known as a company specializing in power-intensive high-speed trains.
However, since KORAIL's qualifications for participation in the bidding have been removed, you can participate in this power-distributed bidding.
KORAIL restricted only companies with a record of producing and delivering high-speed vehicles with a maximum speed of 250 to 300 km/h when ordering high-speed vehicles by 2020 to participate in the bidding, but this restriction has been removed from last year.
KORAIL said, "We did not place any restrictions because all bids from companies registered as high-speed vehicle manufacturers with the Public Procurement Service are allowed," KORAIL said. We followed the rule that the bid should be open to participation,” he explained.
KORAIL plans to select a company that offers a low price as the final operator after screening pass or fail in the technology evaluation.
KORAIL expects to be able to purchase high-speed trains at a lower price if bidding competition takes place.
Talgo appears to have entered the domestic market to increase its competitiveness in global orders.
Talgo, where delivery performance is more important than immediate profit, is likely to compete for orders in this bid by lowering the bid price as much as possible.
Among the high-speed vehicles from Suwon-Incheon (Gyeongbu Line, etc.) ordered by KORAIL, the 16 vehicles with the fastest delivery period must be delivered by November 2026, and the Pyeongtaek Osong Line is scheduled to open in 2027.
In Korea, high-speed vehicles were designated as national core technologies for the first time in 1996 at the National Leading Technology Development Project Council.
Currently, a total of 71 high-speed rail-related technologies, including the high-speed vehicle power system with a maximum speed of 350 km/h, have been designated as national core technologies.
From the initial technology acquisition stage to the development and stabilization stage of a Korean-style decentralized high-speed vehicle, the total amount of public and private investment amounted to KRW 2.7 trillion.
The railroad industry points out that the problem is that the domestic market has a structure that allows foreign companies to enter more easily than other countries' markets.
Overseas companies can participate in domestic bidding with only official documents from their respective countries that register as a railroad car article supplier with the Public Procurement Service and prove that the company is a railroad car article manufacturer.
On the other hand, unlike Korea, other countries are said to be building high barriers to entry into bidding.
In Europe, individual companies can apply for a bid notice when the developer places an order, but only those companies who have sent out a bid invitation letter from the developer can finally participate in the bid.
In the case of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed vehicle business in 2018, the performance of supplying high-speed vehicles with an operating speed of 300 km/h or more was qualified as a bidder.
Thailand and Turkiye (Turkey) also limited their qualifications to participate in the high-speed vehicle business ordered in 2018 and 2016, respectively, to manufacturers of decentralized vehicles.
(Photo = provided by KORAIL, Yonhap News)