Construction of the first phase of the light rail system in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) is 30.95 percent complete, the city’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems announced on Friday.
Work began on the 9.52km first phase of the project in September 2014 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
The department also announced the Chinese names of the 14 stops to be built in the current phase of the project, but the English names have yet to be decided.
Photo: CNA, provided by the New Taipei City Government
The tram system’s first phase encompasses 14 stops on two tram lines — the Lushan (Green Mountain) Line, which has 11 stops, and the Lanhai (Blue Seaside) Line, which has three stops.
The Lushan Line starts from the Hongshulin MRT station and runs along Zhongzheng E Road, Provincial Highway No. 2, Binhai Road and Shalun Road, and ends near the Danhai New Town project.
The Lanhai Line shares the 1.21km section of track and three stops along Shalun Road with the Lushan Line before going in the other direction on Binhai Road and ending at Fisherman’s Wharf.
The first phase is being built by a consortium led by the government-invested China Steel Corp.
The department said it plans to unveil the carriages to be used on the tram lines, which are being built locally by Taiwan Rolling Stock Co, by the end of this year.
The total budget for the Danhai light-rail system, including a second phase to extend the Lanhai Line along the Tamsui River between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Tamsui metro station, is NT$15.3 billion (US$474.24 million), according to the department.
The tram lines are part of the development of the 1,748.7 hectare Danhai New Town, which was launched in 1992 and hopes to attract a population of 300,000 by 2036.
As of last month, the total population of Tamsui District was 163,141, according to city government statistics.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)