The New Taipei City Government next month is to submit to the central government a revised plan for the second phase of the light rail network in Tamsui due to opposition from residents living along the previously planned route, a city government official said yesterday.
New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems Deputy Director-General Lin Yao-chang (林耀長) told a meeting about the Danhai Light Rail transit system’s construction about proposed changes to the Blue Seaside Line that is to run alongside the Tamsui River (淡水河).
While the first phase of the line, which connects the existing Green Mountain Line to Tamsui Fishermen’s Wharf via the Taipei University of Marine Technology and Shalun, is expected to enter service by the end of this year, the second phase has faced opposition from local residents, he said.
The proposed second phase, which is to link Tamsui MRT Station with Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf, has a section that runs through Tamsui Old Street.
However, following a series of discussions with local residents, the department is to propose a modified route and a new plan is to be submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications next month.
The new plan includes changes to the entire 4.4km light rail line to be built alongside the Tamsui River, Lin said.
To avoid the overhead power lines that would be required, impacting the riverside view, the department is studying the possibility of the vehicles to be used being battery-powered, he said.
The department plans to begin a comparative environmental impact analysis of the modified plan by the end of this year, he added.
The NT$15.3 billion (US$524.9 million) Danhai Light Rail project was approved by the Cabinet in 2013, with the 11-stop Green Mountain Line entering service in December 2018.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS