An electrified South Link Line is to officially begin operations on Dec. 23, which would reduce the estimated travel time between Kaohsiung and Taitung County by about 27 minutes, the Taiwan Railways Administration said yesterday.
The 123.4km-long line connecting Pingtung and Taitung counties was the last stretch of the nation’s railway system that had yet to be electrified. The government began electrifying the line in 2013, with the construction budget topping NT$27.613 billion (US$956.4 million).
The line has two main sections. The one from Chaojhou (潮州) to Fangliao (枋寮) townships in Pingtung County, which is about 25.2km long, has been electrified since the end of last year. The section between Fangliao and Taitung’s Jhiben (知本) Station, which is about 98.2km long, is to be fully electrified soon.
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
Six Puyuma Express services and four Tzuchiang Express services would be added to the line once it is fully electrified, raising transport capacity by 7 percent during weekdays and 13 percent on weekends.
Three of 10 new services would operate from the west coast to the east coast via the line, the agency said, adding that this would save travelers from the west coast having to switch trains at Chaojhou Railway Station.
The agency would not need to replace the Chukuang Express train’s electric locomotive with a diesel one at Fangliao or Taitung train stations anymore, it said.
Once the South Link Line is completely electrified, travel time between Kaohsiung and Hualien could be shortened by 39 minutes, the agency said.
Schedules along the line would be changed once the electrified services begin on Dec. 23, with the number of diesel-powered trains to be reduced from 57 to 28, the TRA said.
The updated schedule can be viewed online and at railway stations, the agency said.
Fangliao is to be upgraded to a tier-2 station, where Puyuma Express and Tzuchiang Express trains would stop, the agency said, adding that the station would also become a tourism transit hub in Pingtung County.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS