The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) says it is considering the feasibility of extending the Danshui MRT line to Danhai New Township (淡海新市鎮) to help accelerate the community’s development.
A proposed elevated Danhai line, a medium-capacity light rail transit system (LRT), would run from Hongshulin Station on the existing Danshui line to Danhai New Township and allow the community’s residents to get to Taipei Main Station in one hour.
Following a meeting on Thursday to discuss the feasibility of the project that also included representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), CEPD Deputy Minister Hwang Wang-hsiang (黃萬翔) said the project would contribute to the new township’s development.
The new community has been planned to accommodate 300,000 residents, but to date only 453 hectares of the community’s 1,756 hectares have been developed, largely because of the lack of convenient transportation and peripheral services.
Hwang said the line would take six to seven years to build and could also be extended to Danshui Station. Provisions also exist for a spur line that would connect Danhai New Township and Fisherman’s Wharf, a tourist destination at the mouth of the Tamsui River (淡水河).
The MOTC has estimated that the line from Hongshulin Station to Danhai New Township would cost NT$9.7 billion (US$310 million) to build. Adding a loop line to Danshui Station would cost an additional NT$2.1 billion, an MOTC official said.
According to a local media report, the project had been previously rejected by the MOTC over concerns that it was too expensive, but the idea is now being revived because of the upcoming municipal elections.
Officials from both the CEPD and MOTC, however, told the Central News Agency that the report was wrong on both counts.
The MOTC did ask for additions to an initial project plan, but it had not turned it down and the MOTC’s evaluation has followed a schedule unrelated to election activities, an MOTC official said.
Taipei County, which is to be upgraded to a special municipality called Sinbei City (新北市), will elect a new mayor later this year.
A CEPD official said the light-rail project would contribute to Danhai New Township’s development, but other supplementary measures would also be needed to boost services and entice more people to move to the community.
Hwang said the MOTC would include a neighborhood development plan as part of the project and would submit it to the CEPD for review.
If the project is approved by the CEPD, it will then be submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval, Hwang said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS