The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) plans to invest NT$2.2 billion (US$72.4 million) to restore the Old Mountain Line (舊山線) to improve connections between tourist destinations in central Taiwan.
The TRA runs the New Mountain Line and the Sea Line as part of its west coast system. The former runs from Junan (竹南) to Changhua County, while the latter to the east runs from Dajia (大甲) to Cingshuei (清水).
The Old Mountain Line was constructed in 1903 and began operating in 1908, the TRA said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Railways Administration
Operations ceased in 1998, when the agency switched the route to the New Mountain Line after a dual-track system was completed in Taichung.
However, local government officials and private organizations have been urging the restoration of the Old Mountain Line, while the Bureau of Cultural Heritage has listed it as a potential world heritage site.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications last year asked the TRA to devise a plan to restore the line.
“We plan to spend about NT$2.2 billion to restore the 15.9km line from Sanyi (三義) in Miaoli County to Taichung’s Houli District (后里). The restoration will take about four-and-a-half years,” TRA Planning Department Director Kuo Kuan-hung (郭冠宏) said.
The restoration project would cover six railway crossings, four stations, six steel bridges and eight tunnels, Kuo said.
Both rail bikes and trains would operate on the Old Mountain Line once it has been restored, he said.
The restored line would help connect important tourism corridors in central Taiwan, from a locomotive park in Miaoli to Taian Railway Culture Park in Taichung and the fan-shaped train depot in Changhua, Kuo said.
It could also be connected to Chengcheng (車埕) and Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) via the Jiji Line, he added.
“We have estimated that restoration could begin next year and be completed by 2024. After construction is completed, we can then apply for the line to be inspected before it begins operations in 2025,” Kuo said.
The TRA could outsource the operation of the Old Mountain Line to a contractor, or the Miaoli County and Taichung City governments, Kuo said.
There are expected to be relatively few visitors to the Old Mountain Line when it opens, with the preliminary plan being that tourists could use rail bikes on the line on weekdays, he said.
At weekends, the contractor could dispatch locomotives that are able to carry 20 to 30 passengers from Sanyi to Shengsing (勝興), and from Old Taian Station to Houli, Kuo said.
Tourists could then take rail bikes from Shengsing to Old Taian Station, he added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS