Taiwan's multibillion-NT dollar high-speed rail network will eventually connect with the planned metro mass rapid transit (MRT) systems in the cities of Taichung, Hsinchu, Taoyuan and Tainan, the transport ministry said yesterday.
"We anticipate that this will bring a huge saving in commute time for people around the island," said Liao Ching-lung (
The 300km railway, scheduled for completion in 2005, will take passengers from Keelung in the north to Kaohsiung in the south in an estimated 90 minutes.
Another two-line MRT project is now scheduled to break ground in Kaohsiung this year, but MOTC officials did not say whether this network would be connected with the high-speed rail terminal in the southern port city.
Liao declined to put a timetable on the proposed MRT projects, but said he hoped they would be finished the same time as the rail network.
"Our time frame is not very clear right now. The Cabinet has to decide on a schedule for construction. We can only make suggestions," he said. Liao also declined to speculate as to which network is most likely to open first.
"How quickly the project gets off the ground also depends on private-sector involvement. We are very eager to attract private-sector financing and participation in the project," he said.
Just last week, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC,
The bureau is currently studying proposals for recruiting private-sector partners in the four cities.
A preliminary report on private-sector involvement in the Taichung MRT system will be ready by June, he said.
All four MRT networks, like the high-speed rail system, will be run on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.
Second-round environmental impact assessments have been completed in Taichung and Tainan, while Taoyuan and Hsinchu are still at the preliminary stages.
Final proposals for the four networks are currently under review at the ministry, he said.
"Interactions with local gov-ernments are going very well right now," although land use issues have been the most difficult to settle, he said.
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