The Ministry of Environment yesterday said it would approve a project to build a high-speed rail (HSR) extension from Taipei to Yilan County after the Railway Bureau alters plans for acquiring land and planting trees.
The environmental impact evaluation committee said after a meeting reviewing the preliminary report for the project that the bureau should obtain land use rights for proposed stations and special areas through expropriation and zoning to avoid disrupting the county government’s urban development plans.
The stations refer to railway platforms, parking garages and pick up areas, while special areas refer to the residential and commercial zones surrounding them, the committee said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The bureau should provide a more detailed plan for acquiring the land necessary for the train stations, it said.
Some committee members suggested the bureau clarify mechanisms for evaluating the performance of operators and contractors, and a financial study on Taiwan Railway Corp, it said.
Trees to be planted as part of the project would not be included in calculating carbon credits to prevent double-counting, the committee said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The proposed high-speed rail extension would link the HSR station in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) to a location southeast of the Yilan County Government building, which would necessitate 59.6km of new construction, the Railway Bureau said.
The extension would be underground with six new stations and a maintenance facility near the planned Yilan Station, it said.
Taiwan High Speed Rail’s and Taiwan Railway Corp’s systems are complementary, with the HSR extension enabling same-day commuting between Taipei and Yilan County, bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said.
Photo: THSRC
The bureau continues to collaborate with Taiwan Railway Corp on projects to electrify and lay a second track for the Hualien-Taitung line and improve the South Link Line in southern Taiwan, he said.
The proposed high-speed rail extension would likely be managed by Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp, not a separate entity, he added.
On Monday, Taiwan Railway Union members, along with representatives of advocacy groups, protested outside the Ministry of the Environment, urging the government to focus on a direct railway line instead of the HSR extension.
The union members and advocates said that the extension could harm the financial viability of Taiwan Railway Corp, putting its workers at risk.
Separately, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp announced that its next-generation trains would be designated N700ST.
The trains are modeled after Japan’s N700S “Supreme” Shinkansen bullet trains.
The painting of the first N700ST train is to begin by the end of this year. The train’s nose would feature a bright white color scheme, with orange and black curved lines converging at the front and extending in parallel along the sides of the train.
The company said that the new trains are to begin arriving in Taiwan next year and are expected to enter service in 2027.
The new trains would increase capacity, providing passengers a better and more comfortable travel experience, it said.
In other news, starting next year, passengers without reserved seats would be assigned to designated non-reserved cabins during peak hours to reduce congestion on the trains, it said.
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