Siemens Transportation Systems (TS) is to install a fully automatic Val metro system in Uijeongbu, South Korea. Siemens' assigned portion of the project amounts to 140 million Euros.

The fully automatic light rail system is being built by six partners in a consortium within the framework of a turnkey project in Uijeongbu, around 20 kilometers to the north of Seoul, the south Korean capital. The customer is Uijeongbu Light Rail Transit (LRT) Co., Ltd.

The Siemens scope of work includes the ATC (Automatic Train Control) system, the operations control center, the depot and trackside equipment, the systems engineering and project management. Siemens will also manufacture 15 two-unit Val 208 vehicles which will have rubber tires and operate on the 10.6 kilometer line in Uijeongbu. The bidirectional system will encompass 14 stations and will transport up to 6,400 people per hour and direction. The system will start operating in April 2011.

It was only a short time ago in February 2006 that a fully automatic Val-type metro line was opened in Turin, Italy, after a construction period of four and a half years. Siemens had supplied the automation equipment and 23 four-unit vehicles for the system. For many years now, the Val system has been demonstrating its reliability and efficiency in cities such as Lille, Toulouse and Rennes in France and also in Chicago, USA, as well as in Taipei in Taiwan.