Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has approved a plan to build a new line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit system, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said on Friday.
The new line is to run from Siaogang Station to Kaohsiung’s Linyuan District (林園), Lai said.
Construction might begin by the end of the year and the line could open as early as 2030, Lai added.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp via CNA
Connecting the Red Line at its southern terminus, the “Siaogang-Linyuan Line” is to run underground until Linyuan 11th Park (林園11號公園) and overground for the rest of the line, he said.
It is to pass through 12 villages and serve 220,000 people, he said.
Lai said the government had been exploring the feasibility of the line for six years, and the plan was submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for review in December 2020, four months after Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) took office.
The plan passed an environmental impact assessment in July and was reviewed by the National Development Council last month before being submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval.
The 11.59km line is to have six underground stations and one elevated station, the plan shows.
The project’s budget is NT$53.312 billion (US$1.68 billion), it shows.
Without a connection to Kaohsiung’s metropolitan railway system, Siaogang (小港) and Linyuan districts have been beset with industrial pollution and road safety problems, Lai said.
Extending the Red Line was a major part of his political platforms when he ran for legislator six years ago, he said.
After taking office, he coordinated with the ministry and the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau to promote the project, Lai said.
The original plan for the new line was an elevated light rail, but the agencies involved opted for an underground solution, citing a light rail’s low economic efficiency, and safer and more convenient services offered by a line that runs for the most part underground, he said.
The line might be further extended to Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) to promote development in the two cities, he added.
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