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Major airport rail projects to start soon, bureau says

All major construction work on the Taoyuan Airport Rail Line will begin by mid-November, the Bureau of High Speed Rail said yesterday.

Bureau Director-General Pang Chia-hua (龐家驊) said this included construction work on three overpass sections and two underground sections.

To accommodate construction of the airport rail system, infrastructure inside the airport terminal will need to be remodeled as well, Pang said.

The terminal remodeling project will be tendered out to construction companies, he said.

The bidding requirements will be announced around the middle of next month, Pang added.

Pang said the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) had previously decided to allow the bureau free use of land owned by the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) along the rail system.

The National Property Administration under the Ministry of Finance has challenged this measure, however.

Postponements

MOTC Minister Tsai Duei (蔡堆) decided last month that the bureau should pay the administration NT$460 million (US$14 million) for use of the land.

This was the main reason why some of the construction work has been postponed, Pang said.

The MOTC on Tuesday confirmed that the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) would be in charge of operating the airport rail line.

The planned express train is expected to cover the distance from Taipei to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in approximately 35 minutes.

In related news, the bureau is expected to issue approval this week for the Taiwan High Speed Rail Co's (THSRC) proposal to increase the number of one-way runs from 31 to 37 per day.

The THSRC has proposed moving back the departure time of the last trains headed in either direction and have more trains departing from the stations in Tsoying (左營) and Taichung in the early morning hours.

With the high speed rail making its presence felt among civil airline companies, CAA Director-General Billy Chang (張國政) said the administration would this week approve Uni Air's proposal to suspend its flights from Taipei to Chiayi.
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