The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Thursday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a planned dual-track electrified rail line at Taitung Station.
The first phase of the project would connect Taitung City with Taitung County’s Jhihben Township (知本), the Railway Bureau said in a statement.
The connection is part of a larger project to modernize the rail link between Hualien City and Taitung, it said, adding that the dual-track electrified railway would allow trains to run more efficiently and handle peak-time passenger volumes more easily.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
After all single-track sections on the route from Kaohsiung to Hualien are updated, trains would be able to cover the distance in three hours, it said.
The project is expected to cost NT$45.6 billion (US$1.49 billion) and be finished in October 2027, when construction crews from the north and south are scheduled to meet 112.6km south of Hualien Station, the bureau said.
Faster travel on the route would boost tourism and make commuting easier for Taitung residents, it added.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) told the event that up to eight train services per hour would be offered on the route.
Peak-time tickets would no longer sell out far in advance, Liu said, adding that the issue has for a long time been an annoyance to visitors and residents.
The ministry has also purchased 50 Hitachi EMU3000 inter-city trains and hired additional drivers to address the issue, Liu added.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that after the dual-track project and planned high-speed rail links are finished, it would be possible to travel around Taiwan proper in six hours.
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