Construction began yesterday of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit System's Hsinyi line (信義線).
A ground-breaking ceremony, attended by officials of the city government and Taipei City councilors took place at the site of a new station on the rout of the line between Sungchi Road (松智路) intersection and Chuangchin Road (莊敬路).
The new station is scheduled to be completed by the end of September, 2009, according to the city's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS).
The new station will be named the World Trade Center station. It is close to the World trade Center and the Taipei 101 building.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and DORTS' Director Fan Liang-hsiu (范良鏽) both attended the ground-breaking ceremony as well as the general manager of the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), Richard Chen (陳椿亮) and KMT Legislator Mu Ming-chu (穆閩珠).
According to transportation officials, the MRT station, with a budget of NT$1.6 billion, will be constructed underground with four exits.
The World Trade Center station is among seven stations that will make up the 6.4km long Hsinyi line, said Chang Hui-chen (張慧珍), a public relations official at the department.
"The Hsinyi Line will start from with the existing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall station," she said. "Aside from the World Trade Center station, other stations [along the Hsinyi line] will include ones near Ta-an Forest Park, Ta-an Road, Anho Road, Dongmen Market with Hsiangshen being the last station."
The Hsinyi line, running along Hsinyi Road, will be the second MRT line designed to run west-east after the Nankang line (南港線).
Although the Executive Yuan approved construction of the line in 1997, it had been delayed due to financial difficulties, Chang said.
The entire budget for the Hsinyi line is estimated at NT$44.5 billion, Chang said.
"In order to accommodate the current on-going construction of the Taipei 101 building, we've decided to push for the construction of the World Trade Center station now to avoid inconvenience to the surrounding traffic due to digging of the area a second time around [after the Taipei 101 building is finished]," she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique