Unveiling a preliminary proposal that is long on hope but short on financial figures, the Cabinet yesterday said it plans to shorten the travel time from Taipei to Hualien from three to four hours by train down to 70 minutes as a part of its efforts to boost tourism.
The quicker travel time would be achieved by using lighter carriages to increase train speeds, officials said. Government planners are also mulling a direct rail link from Taipei to Hualien that would likely cut a path through the mountains that line the eastern part of the island.
The trip now takes as long as four hours because train passengers departing from Taipei head north to Keelung before traveling south along the coast toward Hualien.
"We're thinking of building a straight-line railway system and a freeway connecting Taipei and eastern Taiwan," said Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正), minister without portfolio. "Our ultimate goal is to shorten the travel time from Taipei to Hualien from the current three to four hours by train down to 70 minutes."
Although government officials yesterday didn't put a price tag on the proposed infrastructure project, the plan -- if implemented -- would likely be expensive.
The Cabinet yesterday also said it hopes to revitalize the nation's tourism industry by doubling the annual number of foreign tourists that visit Taiwan. An average of 990,000 foreign tourists visit Taiwan annually, and the Cabinet hopes to double that figure to 1.98 million within six years.
The projects are part of the Cabinet's six-year national development project. The Cabinet yesterday held the second of a series of ministry-level meetings to discuss the proposals.
Once the meetings are concluded today, the Cabinet plans to solicit the opinions of scholars, business leaders and lawmakers before making its final plans.
"We hope to finish the final draft for the premier's approval by the end of this month," Hu told reporters yesterday after a three-hour, closed-door meeting.
According to Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥), vice chairwoman for the Council for Economic Planning and Development, yesterday's meeting was held to talk about environmental considerations related to the development project, which will encompass three major tasks.
"The goals are to double the annual number of foreign tourists, to construct a `convenient, islandwide transportation network' and to better integrate water, land, forestry and energy resources," Ho said.
To raise the number of foreign visitors, Hu said the Cabinet plans to develop and integrate tourism resources and encourage travel agencies to offer package tours with longer stays in Taiwan.
"We're not talking about building more facilities but about how to upgrade the service quality of the tourism industry and to make more people want to visit Taiwan," Hu said.
Efforts may include simplifying the visa application process, making tourism information more accessible through the Internet and other media and making the local transportation system faster and more convenient.
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