Negotiations over the NT$120 billion build-operate-transfer (BOT) deal to construct a mass rapid transit line from Taipei to CKS International Airport began yesterday, almost four years after the project was awarded to Evertransit International Co (長生國際開發).
Discussions began after the Cabinet last Wednesday approved the second draft of Evertransit's blueprints for the rail project that will shuttle people from the Hsimenting MRT station in downtown Taipei to the airport in around 35 minutes, according to an official at the Bureau of Taiwan High Speed Rail.
Evertransit beat five competitors to obtain the priority right to negotiate a BOT contract for constructing the airport MRT line in May 1998.
The government questioned the first draft of the company's plan back in 1999. The proposal required the price of land acquisition to be included in the total cost of the construction project, an executive at the company said.
Concerns arose that the company may have used its government-subsidized checkbook to engage in property speculation while securing land upon which to build the railway.
Subsequently the government required that the second draft should limit the amount of land the company can acquire along the rail's route, a company spokesperson said.
And while the company sent a revised version to the government in 2000, the Cabinet didn't approve it until last Wednesday.
The total land area approved by the government was 1,015 hectares, 600 hectares less than the original amount, a government official said.
The construction cost listed by Evertransit amounted to NT$78.8 billion, with the remaining NT$41 billion slated for land acquisition, bringing down the total from NT$145.6 billion to NT$120 billion an executive said.
The negotiations between the government and the company must be completed within six months, with construction of the system completed by 2008, the executive said.
Evertransit will build and operate the railway for 30 years before handing it back to the government.
The 36.9km system will have 19 stations, including three along a branch line to Linkou, with tickets costing around NT$120 per person.
Following yesterday's meeting, Liao Ching-lung (
Additionally plans for the acquisition of land and urban development will be coordinated by the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development, Liao said.
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