The Taiwan Railways Administration’s nationwide railway system is to be entirely electrified when the South Link Line’s electrification project is completed by the end of next year, the Railway Bureau said on Tuesday.
The South Link Line, which connects Pingtung and Taitung counties, is the only railway route that has yet to be completely electrified.
The route originally ran from Pingtung’s Fangliao Township (枋寮) to Taitung Railway Station. Most of the stations are in remote and less-populated areas, which has made construction a challenging task.
The electrification of the route would begin in Pingtung’s Chaozhou Township (潮州) — the terminal station of the railway line in the west coast — and end in Taitung’s Jhihben Township (知本).
The line between Taitung Railway Station and Jhihben has already been electrified.
The bureau aims to have the line between Chaozhou and Fangliao electrified by the end of this year to save commuters the trouble of having to change trains, bureau Deputy Director-General Wu Sheng-yuan (伍勝園) said.
The number of trains operating between Chaozhou and Taitung would have to be reduced due to construction, he said, adding that the bureau has collaborated with the Directorate-General of Highways to increase the number of highway buses in the area.
From Sept. 2 to Dec. 30, trains operating from 5pm to 9pm from Monday to Thursday and on Saturday between Chaozhou and Taitung would be canceled, Wu said.
During those times, people would have to use one of three different bus services: Kaohsiung to Taitung, Chaozhou to Taitung or Chaozhou to Fangliao.
The bus fares for those routes would be about 80 percent of the commuter train ticket price, the bureau said.
The bureau has also raised the foundations in four sections along the line, Wu said.
Linbian Railway Station has also been elevated, as it is located in a flood-prone area, he said.
The section between Nanzhou (南州) and Linbian railway stations would be upgraded from a single-track railway to a dual-track railway, and the electrification of the section between Fangliao and Jhihben would be completed by the end of next year, he said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by