People living in eastern Taiwan will enjoy faster rail services by 2005, as will their counterparts in the west, participants in a meeting of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
The 345km high-speed rail line linking Taipei and Kaohsiung is still under construction and is expected to become operational by 2005.
The meeting centered around the islandwide transportation network's construction plan -- which is the largest of the nation's major development projects and has a budget of around NT$1.2 trillion (US$35.7 billion) -- and ministry officials addressed the portion of the program dealing with rail transport.
The Taiwan Railway Administration is now conducting improvement projects in eastern Taiwan -- these include the upgrading of the Ilan Line to facilitate electric engines, as opposed to the current diesel engines.
The projects would also expand the North Bend Railway and upgrade this line for electric engines. Under the plan, transportation officials also hope to adopt an automatic signal system for the railway between Keelung and Taitung.
It is expected that the travel time for an express Chukuang train traveling between Taipei and Taitung will be cut by at least 70 minutes.
The Taiwan Railway Administration's proposal to buy rail cars, aimed at easing the problem of limited availability of train tickets in eastern Taiwan, is now pending Executive Yuan approval.
The Taiwan Railway Administration is also studying the possibility of building a direct line between Nankang in Taipei County and Toucheng in Ilan County to cut the travel time between the two locations.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
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