Construction of the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Yunlin County is scheduled to commence in Huwei Township (虎尾) tomorrow, with costs to exceed NT$1.5 billion (US$51.8 million).
Yunlin County is one of the three counties that do not yet have high-speed rail stations, along with Miaoli and Changhua counties.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) chairman Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and other dignitaries have been invited to attend the ground-breaking ceremony.
The Bureau of High Speed Rail said the construction of the high-speed rail stations in Miaoli and Changhua would be launched on Jan. 25 and Feb. 6 respectively.
All three new stations are to become operational by 2015, the bureau added.
Meanwhile, the bureau said that the government has completed the building of the high-speed rail station in Taipei’s Nangang (南港) district and handed it over to the THSRC to install the machinery and railway tracks. The contract stipulates that the company must complete the work by 2015.
The bureau said the company would need to re-examine its operational model because the number of stations has increased from eight to 12, and the travel time of the express train service from Taipei to Kaohsiung must not exceed 96 minutes.
THSRC estimated that travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung would increase to two-and-a-half hours if the train stops at every station along the route except Nangang.
Because the station in Yunlin is in Huwei Township, whose name is literally translated as “a tiger’s tail,” THSRC said that the architecture would convey the imagery of a tiger’s stripes and tail.
Because Yunlin County is known to have a land subsidence problem, the company said it planned to adopt a new construction method to ensure the stability of the new station, which is on an overpass. Instead of using dirt to refill the ground under the overpass, the company is planning to use solid and high-density expandable polystyrene (EPS) to fill the ground to avoid additional sinkage.
The company said that 1m3 of fill dirt weighs between 2 tonnes and 2.5 tonnes, but 1m3 of EPS weighs only 200kg.
However, EPS costs about NT$3,000 per cubic meter, which is 10 times more expensive than fill dirt.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS