Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate for Sinbei City Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she would not try to compete with the splashy election promises made by her opponent on the construction of new MRT lines because they were “unrealistic” and unlikely to happen.
“To be honest, the chances of [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate] Eric Chu (朱立倫) actually carrying them out aren’t high,” she said during an election event in Shulin City yesterday.
“It’s very possible that he only brought the [policies] out because of this election,” she said.
Chu announced in July that he would quadruple Sinbei City’s MRT system by creating 10 new MRT lines, including three new circular networks, if elected in November. He promised residents that by 2020, construction would either have started or be completed on 80 new stations and 100km of new tracks.
Expanding on the election promise yesterday, Chu said the multi-billion NT dollar plan, which involves a mixture of heavy, medium and light rail connections, would not pose a problem financially because of his previous efforts in his capacity as vice-premier prior to the nomination.
Instead, he accused the DPP candidate of standing against his proposal “simply because [Tsai] can’t find a good reason to oppose MRT construction,” adding that he did not believe it was the right attitude for a potential future mayor.
However, Tsai said that if coordinating central government funds for Sinbei City’s MRT construction was as easy as Chu claimed, “any former premier would have finished it long before.”
“He wouldn’t have waited until his tenure as vice-premier, which only lasted a couple of months,” said Tsai, who also served as vice-premier under former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). “Based on common sense alone, [Chu’s] scenario is not a plausible one.”
This was not the first time the two candidates have sparred on transit policy, an issue that forms the cornerstone of Chu’s campaign. Previously, Tsai’s campaign also supported accusations by DPP lawmakers that the KMT candidate had broken his promises to build at least four new MRT lines during his time as Taoyuan County commissioner.
Chu has insisted that his proposal is based on solid financial ground and is part of a long overdue plan for Sinbei City, the country’s most populous municipality. In addition, he has promised greater public transit integration with neighboring Taipei City, where the head MRT office is located.
Tsai projects a less ambitious MRT construction schedule but one that would include incorporation with Bus Rapid Transit lines, saying that it would be a more thought out policy that took into account better regional development.
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