The Jiji Line (集集線), one of the nation’s heritage railway routes, will be closed in March because seven of its tunnels between Zhuoshui (濁水) Station and Checheng (車埕) are in need of immediate repairs, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said last week.
Construction of the line began in 1919 and was completed in 1921. It was purchased by the Japanese colonial government in 1927. The line was severely damaged in the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and did not resume operations until 2002.
The TRA said the seven tunnels to be repaired were built between 1925 and 1960 and their interior walls cracked after the 921 quake.
TRA maintenance work to shore up the tunnels reduced the space inside to the point that only small diesel-powered trains can pass through.
The renovation work will begin on March 1 and end on Jan. 14, next year. During that period, trains will only operate between Ershui (二水) and Longquan (龍泉) stations.
The TRA has arranged with two bus operators to transport passengers from Longquan to Chencheng and will pay them about NT$8.96 million (US$280,000) to cover the ticket costs.
The TRA will also start taking reservations today for special cruise train services to the East Coast this weekend, which are part of celebration of the 30th anniversary of its North Link. The trip will include a brief steam train ride from Hualien to Chungde (崇德), with a CK-124 model locomotive pulling the train.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by