A site 350m south of the Yilan County Hall has been assessed and found to be the optimal location for a proposed high-speed rail (HSR) station, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
“We’ve received positive feedback from everyone on this proposal, including from Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌),” Wang said.
Work on the project is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed by 2036, he added.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications proposed the site as a fifth option during an information session on Nov. 17, saying that the rail line would bypass downtown Yilan.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) said at the time that the majority of Yilan residents wanted the high-speed rail station to be in downtown Yilan, but did not want the project to interfere with construction of the Yilan Railway Overpass at Yilan Station.
The ministry said the contractor would build the new high-speed rail station to have a platform for the Taiwan Railways Administration’s elevated rail, which would run between Yilan Station and Luodong Station in the south.
Another announcement on the project would be made before the end of the month, it said.
A draft plan would be reviewed by the ministry before next month, which, if approved, would go through an environmental impact assessment, Wang said.
The proposed site had the approval of Chen, Su, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tzu-miao (林姿妙), Yilan County Council Speaker Chang Chien-jung (張建榮), Yilan City Mayor Chiang Tsung-yuan (江聰淵) and other county officials, he said.
However, the ministry was still in talks with Jiaosi Township (礁溪) officials, he added.
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