Plans for the green line of the Taoyuan MRT have passed an environmental impact assessment, the Taoyuan County Government said yesterday, meaning construction on the line that will link Taoyuan City to the airport could begin as soon as next year.
Taoyuan County will submit the assessment results along with a general planning report to the Executive Yuan for approval, and expects the project to be passed in late September.
The county’s Transportation Bureau estimated that construction on the line, which runs through the cities of Bade (八德), Taoyuan and Luzhu (蘆竹), could start in June next year for completion by 2019.
The green line has been officially named the “Aerotropolis Line,” because it will pass through the county’s ambitious airport city project and connect to Taipei through the Airport MRT (purple) line.
The planned north-south route will pass through four proposed urban projects in Danan (Bade), Taoyuan City, Nankan (Luzhu) and Guolin (Dayuan Township).
According to the plans, the green line will run 27.8km and stop at 21 stations (10 underground and 11 elevated.)
The daily passenger volume on the line is expected to reach 500,000.
The corridor that makes up Bade, Taoyuan City and Luzhu is home to nearly 747,000 people.
County officials said the green line would help ease traffic volume on main roads in the densely populated area by between 10 and 25 percent and improve the transport environment.
Once the line comes into service, it could help significantly cut down the time needed to travel from downtown Taoyuan to Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan’s major gateway to the world.
While the airport is only about 20km from downtown, the two direct routes in the densely populated area are prone to congestion.
Nonetheless, some residents have expressed concern that while the line would improve connectivity and convenience, it could also cause nearby housing prices to soar in an area that is already home to some of Taiwan’s fastest-growing real-estate prices.
The residents say they hope that the central and county governments can come up with effective housing policies to mitigate the impact.
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