The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) yesterday said that starting on Sunday for a period of two weeks, passengers using the new Shalun Line (沙崙線) in Tainan will be able to board trains free of charge.
The 6.52km branch line connects the Tainan TRA station on the Western Line (西部幹線) to the Tainan High Speed Rail (HSR) Station. It begins at Jhongjhou Station, stops at Chang Jung Christian University Station — located on campus — and terminates at Shalun Station.
From Shalun Station, passengers can transfer to the Tainan HSR Station by walking through a 34m underground passage.
PHOTO: TSENG HUNG-JU, TAIPEI TIMES
An inauguration ceremony will be held on Sunday to celebrate the new line’s launch, the TRA said.
The free train service will start immediately after the ceremony.
Pilot services will be launched from Nanke Station on the Western Line, and from Shalun Station at 3:18pm, it said.
To facilitate transfers between the Western main line and the Shalun branch line, the TRA has arranged for 70 commuter trains to operate daily either between Nanke or Tainan TRA stations and Shalun Station. The estimated travel time is about 22 minutes, which contrasts with the 50 minutes it takes to make the same journey by bus.
All stations along the branch line are equipped with multiple-card-reading machines, the TRA said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a