The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday defended its plan to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) network to Yilan County, issuing a statement that said the project has clear benefits and would continue to be advanced in line with legal procedures.
The statement was issued following public calls to halt the project by several former senior officials, including former minister without portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) and former minister of transportation and communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦).
Photo: Hou Cheng-hsu, Taipei Times
According to the Railway Bureau, the proposed extension would run from HSR Nangang Station in Taipei through New Taipei City's Sijhih (汐止), Pingsi (平溪), Shuangsi (雙溪) and Gongliao (貢寮) districts before entering Yilan County's Toucheng Township (頭城).
A new HSR station is planned southeast of the Yilan County Government complex, with a maintenance depot to be built further south.
The route would span about 60.6km, including about 59.6km of newly constructed track.
The project passed an environmental impact assessment last year and is currently under review by the Executive Yuan.
If approved, construction is expected to take about 11 years, the bureau said.
Chang criticized the plan on Sunday, saying that Yilan is only 40km to 50km from Taipei by conventional rail and questioning the need to spend about NT$400 billion (US$12.63 billion) on an HSR extension.
Hochen has advocated a Taiwan Railway (TR) "direct rail" project to Yilan since the HSR project was first proposed, citing concerns over cost effectiveness and potential negative impacts on existing rail services.
The bureau yesterday said both the HSR and TR direct rail options were thoroughly evaluated before the HSR plan was selected and submitted for Cabinet review.
The bureau said the original TR direct rail alignment faced strong opposition, as it crossed the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) watershed, while rerouting the line via the northeastern coast would offer limited time savings and insufficient benefits.
Capacity constraints on the existing TR network also limit service expansion, and the plan would involve major residential demolitions, the bureau added.
The HSR extension would cut travel time between Taipei and Yilan from about 90 minutes currently to about 28 minutes, while also expanding overall rail capacity to more than three times current levels, the bureau said.
Total project costs are estimated at NT$352.18 billion, accounting for inflation and rising construction costs.
A TR direct rail alternative, calculated using the same assumptions, would cost about NT$220 billion, the bureau said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS