The main rail route circumnavigating Taiwan would be fully electrified once the South Link Line upgrade is completed this year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Railway Bureau said on Tuesday last week.
The South Link Line is about 98.2km long and the work to electrify the line was challenging, as it had to be done after trains stopped running at midnight each day, the bureau said.
Moreover, a section between Duoliang (多良) and Longsi (瀧溪) in Taitung’s Taimali Township (太麻里) had to be moved because there was insufficient headroom in the tunnels to add electrification infrastructure, it said.
Photo provided by the Taiwan Railways Administration
As most of the South Link Line is in remote areas, most of the materials, machines and personnel had to be delivered via rail, the bureau said.
The section between Chaochou Township (潮州) and Fangliao Township (枋寮) in Pingtung County has had its electrification completed and the upgraded line has been in use since December last year, it said.
That left the section between Fangliao and Jhihben (知本) Station in Taitung as the only one in the round-Taiwan rail system yet to be electrified, it said.
Once the South Link Line is fully electrified, Taroko Express and Puyuma Express services can operate on the line, providing eastbound travelers a fast, safe, scenic, comfortable and energy-efficient rail service, the bureau said.
This would help boost the east coast’s tourism industry, it added.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS