The government will move ahead with a long-planned project to elevate a stretch of railway between Yilan City and Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
Cho made the announcement during a Lunar New Year visit to the city’s Bisia Temple (碧霞宮), where he was handing out red envelopes as part of a Lunar New Year event.
“The Executive Yuan has, in principle, fully approved the Yilan-Luodong railway elevation project, allowing it to move forward,” he said.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
The National Development Council in December last year approved the project, which was submitted to the Executive Yuan for final approval. Cho had pledged on Feb. 8 to make a final decision before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Cho yesterday said he visited Yilan with Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) and Executive Yuan political adviser Lin Kuo-chang (林國漳) to discuss the project and its significance for easing traffic congestion in the county.
The project would span about 16km, from the southern end of Sicheng Station (四城) to the Dongshan Drainage Bridge (冬山排水橋). Stations in Yilan, Erjie (二結), Jhongli (中里) and Luodong would be rebuilt as part of the elevation, and a new “County Government Center Station” would be added, he said.
The project would eliminate nine level crossings, four overpasses and four underpasses, at an estimated cost of NT$50.1 billion (US$1.6 billion).
Discussion of elevating Yilan’s railway dates back to 1993, when the now-defunct Taiwan Provincial Government proposed a study on railway grade separation.
After more than three decades of planning, the project has reached a major turning point, Cho said.
Following an on-site inspection, Cho said he was convinced the project should be accelerated, as removing level crossings and grade separations would significantly improve traffic flow.
Access to hospitals and other key facilities would also become more convenient, he said.
The Executive Yuan granted in-principle approval on Lunar New Year’s Eve, clearing preparatory work to proceed, he said.
However, while the Cabinet has endorsed the plan, it cannot advance without a budget approved by the Legislative Yuan, Cho added.
He said he has asked Chen to help secure passage of the funding bill.
Once the budget is approved, the government can finalize the funding schedule to ensure adequate resources for construction, with central and local authorities working together to complete the project, he said.
Minister Without Portfolio Derek Chen (陳金德), an Yilan native, on Tuesday last week said that elevating the railway would help reconnect divided parts of the county, ease bottlenecks caused by level crossings and promote integrated development along the Yilan-Luodong corridor.
The county government was originally required to contribute NT$10.5 billion in matching funds toward the project. To ease fiscal pressure, it sought special consultations with central authorities to reduce its share. In December last year, central ministries and the county government agreed to lower the local contribution to NT$5.7 billion.
The county government said it hopes to finalize the plan as soon as possible, targeting completion by 2035.
Additional reporting by Yu Ming-chin
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