Lauding the partnership between the Kaohsiung City Government and the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC), Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday the city government would help the company resolve its financial problems and ensure its survival.
Chen also said the city would achieve the goal while safeguarding the interests of its residents.
Kaohsiung’s MRT system began operation in March last year, making it the first MRT system in southern Taiwan. Construction of the system — a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project — took 10 years.
Director-General of the city’s Bureau of Mass Rapid Transit Chen Kai-ling (陳凱凌) told the city council that the KRTC’s book loss is expected to hit NT$6.08 billion (US$188.3 million) by the end of this year. Chen said about 120,000 people take the MRT everyday, bringing in a daily income of NT$2.92 million.
The company still incurs monthly losses of about NT$250 million, Chen Kai-ling said.
Chen Kai-ling said he would require shareholders of the company to help increase the company’s capital.
KRTC president Liu San-chi (劉三錡), who was present during the briefing, urged the city government to help the company with the financial deficit, saying that the city government would have to take over the MRT system at the expense of NT$25 billion if the KRTC could not continue operation, as stated in the contract between the company and the city.
Liu said the city should propose a policy to more effectively raise the number of passengers traveling on the system.
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