The government is considering eliminating the self-liquidating ratio as a criterion used to evaluate railway grade separation projects, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
Railway grade separation projects mainly aim to eliminate railway crossings by either raising the railway track to an overpass or having it built underground.
According to regulations, such projects must be proposed by local governments, which are also responsible for conducting feasibility research. The regulations then require the ministry to use the self-liquidating ratio — the portion of funding that a local government can contribute to a public construction project — as well as other criteria to determine whether a project should be approved.
The higher the percentage of funding that a local government is able to provide, the more subsidies it would receive from the government for the project.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has said on many occasions that he believes the regulations governing railway grade separation projects should change, as local governments are likely to inflate the self-liquidating ratio.
He has also said that, if it approves of a public construction project, the central government should provide more funding to minimize the development gap between urban and rural areas.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Huang Yu-ling (黃玉霖) said that the ministry proposed changing the current regulations to give the central government authority to plan for the launch of railway grade separation projects nationwide, so that the projects could better meet the needs of the national railway network.
Local governments would also no longer propose the percentage of funding they are able to pay, Huang said.
The amended rules would significantly lower the amount that local governments would have to pay for the projects, Huang said, adding that funding from the central government would be given based on how it rates local governments’ financial abilities, he said.
Railway grade separation projects proposed by financially challenged areas would receive more subsidies, provided that they also submit comprehensive urban development plans, Huang said.
The amendment to the regulations, once approved by the ministry, would also apply to projects that are currently being reviewed by the ministry, he added.
The project in Taoyuan, which aims to remove railway crossings by having tracks built underground, is estimated to cost NT$105.6 billion (US$3.46 billion), he said, adding the new regulations would reduce the amount the city has to pay to NT$20 billion from NT$53 billion.
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