After a seven-year hiatus, the Taipei City Government is reconsidering its original plan for a Cabinet-approved project to extend the mass rapid transit (MRT) system to the Neihu area.
If the east-west bound MRT line from Lungshan Temple to Kunyang is completed by the year's end, Neihu will be the city's only district without access to the MRT.
The history of the construction of the Neihu line has been full of ups and downs.
In 1993, the Cabinet approved the NT$42.6 billion project. The 12.9km, 11-stop system was to be built above ground with the transportation volume set at medium capacity.
Also in the contract was a provision that barred additional subsidies should further expenses be incurred.
But a test run in 1993, which ended in a fire, halted the project.
The transportation committee then requested the Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) conduct an evaluation on the feasibility of constructing an underground system with a higher transportation volume.
A regional opinion poll, conducted between July and October 1996, showed that about 50 percent of the district's residents still favored the Cabinet's above-ground version of the system with a medium transportation volume. Meanwhile, roughly 36 percent preferred the proposal for a higher transportation volume and an underground system. However, three public hearings held in May last year determined that the underground system was favored.
Furthermore, a decision made by the committee in July favored three other alternative projects proposed by the department, but they may need additional funds ranging between NT$66 billion and NT$91.8 billion. In addition, the line may take about 12 years to complete.
Even so, at yesterday's meeting Chiang Yao-chung (
According to Swen Ker-Li (孫可立), director of the department's planning division, the entire project may need six to seven years to complete, and the medium transportation volume is enough to handle the 310,000 residents in Neihu and 150,000 in Hsichih.
Committee members seemed to reach a consensus to back the department's proposal.
New Party city councilor Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said the construction needed to begin immediately because Neihu had grown into the city's third largest district and has seen increasing numbers of light industry businesses setting up in the area.
DPP city councilor Lee Chien-chang (
Yesterday's meeting also discussed Chiang's future and his proposed move to the post of deputy chairman of the Cabinet-level Public Construction Commission (
Since the move was announced on May 10, Chiang has remained tight-lipped about whether he would accept, saying he has already reported twice to his superior, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
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