Academics and environmental activists sounded alarms over the newly announced Taipei-Yilan railway project, saying that the proposed route holds high risks as it passes through six active faults and 30 underground mining sites.
Critics said construction of the route would be fraught with danger caused by rock collapses, landslides and structural failures, due to the route traversing a region of known geological instability and which has already been weakened by past mining operations and earthquakes.
Environmentalists also voiced opposition to the project, since developing the proposed 53km rail route will cause destruction of wilderness habitats and fragile mountain-forest ecosystems, and cause pollution problems in the area.
Many critics questioned the amount of government funds allocated for the project, which is to save time on rail trips between Taipei and Yilan.
“Is it worth spending NT$49.1 billion [US$1.62 billion] on the construction [of the rail route] to save 38 minutes of travel time?” one of the skeptics asked.
Academic researcher Lee Ker-tsung (李克聰) said building the line calls for drilling tunnels and construction work close to 30 existing mine sites, which will pose a high risk of collapse and structural failure.
Lee, a professor in Feng Jia University’s department of transportation technology and management, pointed to a long tale of woes around building the Hsuehshan Tunnel, which links Taipei and Yilan and was finally completed in 2006, eight years behind schedule.
He said the Hsuehshan Tunnel is 12.9km long, but it took 15 years to build as 63 collapses occurred during construction, and there were many episodes of major flooding from groundwater.
“The geological report for this new project is not yet available, yet the Railway Reconstruction Bureau has already set a completion date of 2026. This is an overly optimistic schedule,” Lee said.
Green Formosa Front Association (綠色陣線協會) executive director Lin Chang-mao (林長茂) said that the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) would likely encounter major problems while working in a very complicated geological zone with known earthquake activity.
“This route passes under or close to many existing deep coal and mineral mines, but the TRA will go ahead with the construction, despite not having done a thorough geological investigation. This amounts to playing with the lives of rail passengers,” he said.
Lin added that detailed information is needed regarding the length, width, slope angle and pillar frame level of the mine shafts, but data from the Bureau of Mines are sketchy at best.
“In the past, mining in Taiwan mostly relied on the use of acacia wood to rig up simple frame and pillar supports. After years of neglect, they could be crumbling or have already failed. The government does not even know if these mine shafts are now flooded by water,” he said.
“When earthquakes strike, the mine shafts and the surrounding rock structures are prone to collapse,” Lin added. “The route calls for a number of long tunnels through the mountains. If an explosion or a collapse is to occur, trains may be derailed and passengers could have difficulties making their escape.”
In response, a TRA official, who declined to give his name, said: “The sites through which the new route will pass are mostly small-scale mine shafts. These will not pose major engineering problems… When the rail link is completed, freight trains carrying cargo will not run on it, to reduce the risks.”
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua, Wang Yang-yu and Chen Wei-tzu
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS