The Shalun Branch Rail Line (沙崙支線), which will cut travel time between Greater Tainan and the high-speed railway’s Tainan Station, opened yesterday, making connections to the station, which is located southeast of the city, more convenient.
Prior to the line’s opening, the only public transportation option for people in Greater Tainan who wanted to take the high-speed train was a shuttle bus that took at least 50 minutes to get to the station, located in a sparsely populated area southeast of the city.
Traffic jams in downtown Tainan at peak hours can make the journey even longer, but the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said its new line would take the uncertainty out of the trip.
The spur line, which runs from the TRA’s Zhongzhou Station to the new Shalun Station next to the Tainan high-speed rail station, will reduce travel time between Greater Tainan and the high-speed rail stop to about 21 minutes.
There will be 70 shuttles running on the new line every day to ensure smooth connections.
The one-way fare between Greater Tainan and Shalun Station will be NT$25, while the fare between the Zhongzhou Station and Shalun Station will be NT$15.
The TRA’s first new branch in 30 years, the 6.52km-long Shalun Line will help refresh the image of the nation’s century-old railway network, a spokesperson at the TRA’s Kaohsiung Transportation Branch said.
In addition to four colorful trains featuring Tainan’s natural environment, the Shalun Line project included renovations to Zhongzhou Station and the addition of two new elevated stations at Chang Jung Christian University and Shalun.
The TRA said that passengers can take the trains for free until Jan. 15.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS