Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien’s (林聰賢) proposal yesterday to back direct rail service between Taipei and Yilan was yesterday criticized by transport experts, who said that such an important decision should not be made by politicians alone.
Former National Chiao Tung University associate professor Huang Tai-shen (黃台生) said the purpose of Ko and Lin’s meeting was for the two men to show support for the project.
However, the proposal would have to be evaluated by the Environmental Protection Administration’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee, to determine the project’s viability, Huang said.
National Taiwan University professor Jason Chang (張學孔) said that while he applauded Ko’s efforts to collaborate with county commissioners in an attempt to raise the overall standard of the Greater Taipei area’s transportation infrastructure, Ko should consult professionals over potentially problematic issues.
“The Railway Reconstruction Bureau has done a comprehensive study of the proposed project’s impact on the transportation system as well as on the environment,” Chang said, suggesting Ko talk with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications first before he made any specific decisions.
Taiwan Water Conservation Union spokesperson Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) called on Ko to understand the geography of the area where the proposed rail line would run, and gain a proper perspective of the implications.
“The proposed route is in a fault zone — a collection of fault lines — and is susceptible to landslides, not to mention that it would pass through Feitsui Reservoir’s (翡翠水庫) catchment area, which is an ecologically sensitive zone,” she said. “There are other municipalities that have a much more urgent need to develop transportation systems than Taipei. Ko should consult his staff and carry out a comprehensive assessment before making decisions.”
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan member Tsai Chung-Yueh (蔡中岳) said it is almost impossible that the route proposed by Lin would pass an EIA, given its potential destructive impact on Greater Taipei’s water resources.
“Ko’s ‘fast, furious, and effective’ way of working while connecting patients to the extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation system will not work in this case, not with how an EIA works,” he said. “Ko should gain an understanding of the plan, not just listen to Lin’s side of the story.”
Railway Reconstruction Bureau Deputy Director-General Tang Jih-horng (唐繼宏) said that the bureau had previously proposed two different routes to be considered for the project, adding that in an April meeting representatives from the Taipei City Government opposed the proposed route cutting through the reservoir.
“We have chosen the route that would bypass the reservoir and have already conducted assessments on the project’s impact on the environment, with the final report scheduled to be submitted at the beginning of next year,” Tang said.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Frank Fan (范植谷) said the ministry respects the local governments’ opinions on the project, adding that there is room for further discussion as the project is still at the planning stage.
The route endorsed by Ko and Lin was the bureau’s first proposed option — to run from NanKang RailwaymStation to South of Toucheng Township (頭城) in Yilan County.
The second option would connect Taipei’s Nangang (南港) District and Toucheng, which is about 53km away. However, it would be constructed by going through Shuansi District (雙溪) in New Taipei City and Dasi(大溪) in Yilan County.
Construction costs for the two projects are estimated at NT$45.8 billion and NT$49.1 billion respectively (US$1.47 billion and US$1.58 billion).
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS