President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) presided over a ceremony in Yuli Township (玉里), Hualien County, yesterday to mark the start of a railway electrification project on a line that connects the two eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung.
“Residents of eastern Taiwan have long hoped for this electrified railway system,” Ma said at the ceremony.
He said he had traveled twice on the Hualien-Taitung railway, which still uses diesel-powered locomotives.
“I felt sorry for the eastern residents and ashamed on behalf of the government that the Hualien-Taitung railway network remained outdated while freeways and high-speed railways have been in operation in western Taiwan for years,” he said.
The electrification of the Hualien-Taitung railway over a distance of 155km is scheduled to be completed by 2012.
The electrified system will mean that trains on the line will be able to travel at speeds of up to 130kph compared to the current 110kph. Travel time between Hualien Railway Station and Taitung Railway Station will be reduced by 35 minutes.
The areas close to the 29 stations along the way will also be developed as tourist attractions, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said.
Ma said the line between Taitung County and Pingtung County should also be upgraded.
“The ministry should start planning for electrification of the line that connects Taitung Railway Station and Chaojhou in Pingtung County on the South Link,” he said.
At separate setting yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers alleged that the ceremony to celebrate the electrification was held on the eve of elections to win votes for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates.
“The plan to electrify the eastern railway was a policy made by the [former] DPP administration. With KMT candidates standing next to Ma, the event was a campaign event,” DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) said.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) dismissed the allegation.
“It was because [yesterday] was an auspicious day to begin construction,” Wu said.
The five candidates in Hualien and Taitung counties were all invited to the ceremony so they could gain an understanding of the progress of electrifying the east coast railway, but some of them chose not to attend, Wu said.
He was referring to independent candidates for Hualien county commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) and Chang Chih-ming (張志明), and the DPP’s candidate for Taitung county commissioner Liu Ti-hao (劉櫂豪).
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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