The Bureau of High Speed Rail announced yesterday that contractors have been found for all sections of the Airport Rail construction project, adding that the project was scheduled to be completed by 2014.
Yesterday afternoon, the bureau held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of the Airport Rail’s Taoyuan Station, which was attended by Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Taoyuan County Commissioner Eric Chu (朱立倫) and other local dignitaries.
Mao said that the Airport Rail line would not only help facilitate faster transportation between Taipei and Kaohsiung, it would also become one of the main transportation systems connecting the Taoyuan Airport Zone and other cities in the vicinity.
He said the project had been delayed because of problems finding construction contractors.
The bureau said that soaring construction costs, delays in the environmental impact review of the Taipei-Sanchung section and unsettled disputes over the design of the Airport-Taoyuan section of the line had discouraged many contractors from bidding on the construction work.
The bureau originally estimated that the 51.5km Airport Rail would be fully operational by 2011.
All the construction work was finally given to contractors last month.
The construction costs are expected to reach NT$113.8 billion (US$3.45 billion), NT$20.2 billion higher than previous estimates.
The section between Sanchung (三重) of Taipei County and Chungli (中壢) in Taoyuan is scheduled to be in operation by June 2013.
The last section from Taipei to Sanchung will be ready by June 2014, the bureau said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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