The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday approved the allocation of NT$18 billion (US$604.9 million) from the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program’s budget to carry out construction on the second phase of the Taipei MRT system’s Wanda-Shulin (light green) line.
The Executive Yuan in February 2010 approved the two-phase plan and asked Taipei to draw up plans for land development and reallocation of city finances to expedite the process, the ministry said.
As New Taipei City was named a special municipality later that year, failure to arrive at a consensus put the project in limbo until Dec. 8, 2016, when the deputy mayors of Taipei and New Taipei City announced that the project would continue, the ministry said.
The second phase of the line is to connect New Taipei City’s Tucheng (土城), Banciao (板橋), Shulin (樹林) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, the ministry said, adding that of its 13.3km, 2.8km are to be underground and 10.5km are to be elevated.
The medium-capacity transit line is to cost NT$55.8 billion, of which the central government is expected to provide NT$18 billion, the ministry said.
The line is expected to satisfy the transit needs of residents in the four districts and would connect with the Orange and Blue lines, the ministry said.
The funding would be given to the New Taipei City Government from next fiscal year to fiscal year 2020, the city government said.
The city government had previously panned the Executive Yuan for the line’s exclusion from the infrastructure program, saying that it was a “deliberate sidelining of New Taipei City.”
Democratic Progressive Party legislators Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and Wu Chi-ming (吳琪銘) on Tuesday petitioned Premier William Lai (賴清德) to include the line under the program during its planning phase, the city government said.
Lai, saying he had realized the line’s importance to area residents, ordered the ministry to expedite the eligibility assessment for it to receive program funding, the ministry said.
In response to the apparent policy U-turn, Department of Railways and Highways Director-General Wei Yu (魏瑜) said the ministry’s decision was based on New Taipei City and Taipei arriving at a consensus regarding second-phase planning for the line.
The efforts of the three legislators also helped expedite the process, Wei added.
A formal budget request for the second phase would be forwarded to the Executive Yuan once it is completed, Wei said.
The infrastructure program is to receive NT$882 billion over eight years and is expected to gross NT$1.7 trillion in economic growth, according to Executive Yuan estimates.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
GOOD INFLUENCE: Kwan said his mother tutored him at home for a few years, saying that she had to protect his ‘creativity’ as his writing had suffered Director and coproducer of the Oscar-winning absurdist comedy-drama Everything Everywhere All at Once Daniel Kwan (關家永) on Sunday dedicated the movie to his Taiwanese mother, who he said supported his creativity growing up. “She is someone who sacrificed a lot for her kids,” Kwan, 35, said backstage at the Oscars. The movie, released early last year, received a commanding 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, and won seven, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, with whom he also directed the 2016 fantasy film Swiss Army
HYGIENE KEY: The CDC reported two cases of enterovirus 71, which can cause serious complications, and as there have been no recent outbreaks, children are not immune Two cases of enterovirus 71 (EV71) were reported last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that it was a warning sign, as the virus has not been detected for more than a year. Parents are advised to remind their children to practice good hand hygiene, it said. Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉), director of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Center, said that 165,230 people visited a hospital for diarrhea last week, which is a high number. Most of the diarrhea case clusters were caused by norovirus infection, but there were also enterovirus cases, and weekly caseloads are slowly increasing, Guo said. Most of
A bipartisan US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan yesterday on a two-day visit that is to include meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The delegation comprises Republican US representatives and Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ken Calvert, Tom Cole, Dave Joyce and Mike Garcia, as well as Democratic US Representative Ed Case, the ministry said in a news release. Upon their arrival at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the five representatives were welcomed by North American Affairs Department Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典), it said. During their visit, they are to meet
RSS