The Council of Agriculture (COA) said it hoped to reach an agreement with the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) before the end of this year as to when it will officially transfer management of Alishan Forest Railway to the nation’s largest railway system.
A logging railway built in the Japanese colonial era, the forest line was outsourced to Hungtu Alishan International Development Co following a build-operate-transfer contract in 2008.
Last year, the council’s Forestry Bureau terminated the contract with Hungtu as the latter failed to repair damage caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009. The two remain entangled in lawsuits to determine who has the right to manage the railway.
The lack of proper management has taken a toll on the national heritage railway. On Wednesday, a train hit by a falling tree caused a derailment that killed five Chinese tourists and injured 109.
A cross-departmental panel is scheduled to launch an investigation into the accident this week, the council said.
Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) said the decision to allow the TRA to takeover management of the line was made last year.
“We were unable to settle on a specific date for a formal transfer because of all the legal disputes with our contractor and the repairs that need to be done to the railway,” Hu said, adding that the council hoped to sort out some of the technical issues with the TRA over the next three months.
The TRA had been reluctant to take over the railway because of an evaluation that indicated it would have to spend NT$3.7 billion (US$128 million) over a six year period to upgrade the forest railway service, including replacing old and damaged railroad ties and fortifying the foundations.
Managing the forest railway would place an additional burden on the state-run railway operator which has already accumulated NT$100 billion in debt.
According to the council’s Forestry Bureau, the railway makes about NT$60 million in revenue a year, but has annual operating costs of about NT$200 million. In other words, the line makes an annual financial loss of between NT$140 million and NT$150 million.
Hu said that having the TRA manage the forest railway at least constitutes a “definite direction” for the railway decided through Cabinet-level negotiations.
“The railway is a cultural asset,” Hu said. “The government needs to find some way to maintain it. It does not matter if the money comes from the TRA, COA or even the Council of Cultural Affairs,” he added.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS