The nation’s oldest railroad is set to be restored by the Keelung City Government, which has said it plans to apply to have the railroad and its tunnels recognized as a national heritage site following the two-year repair project.
Work on the railroad and tunnels began in 1888 under the orders of then-Taiwan governor Liu Mingchuan (劉銘傳) and was finished in 1890.
It was the first railway line in the nation and is the only remaining railway section laid down during China’s Qing Dynasty.
Photo: Lu Hsiu-hsien, Taipei Times
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that restoration efforts would begin with the railroad and tunnels and include nearby areas, including a cannon at Shihchiuling (獅球嶺), as well as general development for Aboriginal communities in the region.
The heritage site, at the end of Chongde Road in Anle District (安樂), has suffered severe wind corrosion as well as blockage of its underground pipes, and since a section of the middle tunnel collapsed in 2009, the site has been sealed off from the public.
Despite having completed designs for the restoration, the city government is caught in a quandary due to multiple ownership of the land, as it is shared between the Ministry of National Defense, the National Property Administration (NPA) and the Forestry Bureau.
The Ministry of Culture had stipulated that the restoration project be put on hold until the city government acquired ownership of the land, which it has achieved by way of the NPA ceding ownership and the defense ministry designating the city government as temporary guardian of its share of the land.
Total costs could be as much as NT$112 million (US$3.5 million), though the culture ministry has agreed to subsidize the project to the effect of NT$35 million, leaving the city government looking at a tab of NT$76 million.
The project is set to begin in April and is looking at two years of construction time, the city government said.
Aside from restoring the tunnel itself, the city government is also looking at rejuvenating local tourist sites and villages.
Keelung Bureau of Culture Director Peng Chun-hsiang (彭俊享) said the railway had played an important role in the history of the nation’s development, adding that the city government is mulling plans to apply for the site to be recognized as a national heritage area once the restoration project is finished.
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)
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
RSS