Opponents of a plan to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Yilan County yesterday filed an administrative appeal against its environmental impact assessment (EIA) conclusion, while more than 200 supporters protested outside the Ministry of Environment.
The Alliance Overseeing the High Speed Rail Extension, the Yilan Environmental Protection Union and the Taiwan Railway Union (TRU) convened a news conference in front of the ministry building in Taipei along with Public Nudge and former minister of transportation and communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦).
They questioned the rationality and legality of the EIA review while delivering a petition for an administrative appeal to the ministry.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
Alliance convener Kang Fang-min (康芳銘) said the project is intertwined with the HSR Yilan Station District development plan, as potential economic benefits created by the development of the district justify the extension.
However, the EIA review failed to include the plan, even though an EIA committee member voiced concern about it, meaning that the conclusion was based on incomplete information, Kang said.
The project and the plan involve large-scale land expropriation in the county, including more than 400 hectares of farmland and demolition of more than 140 private residential buildings, but that issue was left out of the EIA report presented by the Railway Bureau, Kang said.
Construction could generate more than 9.6 million cubic meters of construction-surplus soil and stone, but the storage and disposal plan has caused doubts among at least four EIA committee members, he said.
TRU board director Chao Shang-che (趙尚?) urged the ministry to reconsider a proposal to build a straight railway connecting Taipei and Yilan, which was rejected by the EIA committee in 2006 due to its potential adverse environmental impact.
The proposal was dusted off in 2009, but was shelved due to backlash from the Taipei Feitsui Reservoir Administration, the county government and residents of Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) who were facing relocation.
Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) employees’ labor rights and the company’s revenue could be affected by the HSR extension, which would marginalize railway development and undermine railway operations nationwide, Chao said.
On the other hand, more than 200 pro-extension local officials and residents held a rival news conference to voice discontent about the appeal, with Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chun-yu (陳俊宇) attending to express support.
“The land is worth NT$3 million [US$94,702] per ping here,” Jhuangwei Township (壯圍) Mayor Shen Ching-shan (沈清山) said while pointing at the ground in front of the ministry.
The value of farmland in the county ranges from NT$7,000 to NT$13,000 per ping, he said.
“Why can’t our land in Yilan be more valuable, while people in Taipei, Hsinchu County, Taoyuan or Miaoli County can have housing worth millions of dollars per ping?” Shen said.
The HSR extension would make more young people willing to stay and help attract more people to work in the county, he said.
TRC chairman James Jeng (鄭光遠) yesterday at a separate event said the TRC is optimistic about the HSR extension, although it is estimated to cause an annual NT$627 million decrease in TRC’s revenue.
The HSR was built for long-
distance transportation, while the TRC makes profits mostly through mid and short-distance services, he said, adding that the TRC expects its losses from the extension would be considered a policy-induced loss by the government.
TRC president Feng Hui-sheng (馮輝昇) said the HSR extension would compete with the TRC not only for passengers traveling between Taipei and Yilan, but for those traveling from Taichung, Chiayi County or Tainan to Yilan County.
That could mean an annual loss of NT$627 million for TRC, he said, adding that ridership is estimated to decline by 9,000 passengers per day on weekdays and 17,000 passengers per day on weekends by 2051.
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