The National Development Council (NDC) on Monday approved a project to build a Siaogang-Linyuan line on the Kaohisung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT) system and said services on the line would be scheduled to begin in 2030.
The NDC, the nation’s top economic planning agency, said construction of the new line is scheduled to start at the end of next year, pending final approval from the Executive Yuan.
The total cost of the project is expected to be NT$53.3 billion (US$1.91 billion), it said.
The 12km line is to have seven stations linking the terminal of the Red Line to Linyuan Industrial Park (林園工業區).
In addition to Linyuan Industrial Park, the new line would also have stations at two more important industrial parks in Kaohsiung: the planned New Material Circular Industrial Park (新材料循環產業園區) and the Linhai Industrial Park (臨海工業區).
Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said the Siaogang-Linyuan line would run along a section of road which has had a relatively high number of accidents with injuries and deaths.
Motorists face risks when they drive on roads to and from industrial parks because they are often flanked by heavy trucks.
In the past 10 years, the number of traffic accidents on that section of road has resulted in 27 deaths and about 4,000 injuries per year on average, with the costs resulting from the collisions reaching about NT$5 billion per year, Lin said citing statistics compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
After the completion of the new line, commuters would no longer have to drive their scooters when traveling to the three industrial parks because they would be able to take the KMRT, which would be much safer, he said.
The three industrial parks, which house an important semiconductor cluster and have a combined workforce of about 60,000, generate NT$1.24 trillion in total production value each year, he added.
To encourage people to take the Siaogang-Linyuan line, the Kaohsiung City Government is mulling the possibility of issuing special tickets at preferential rates, Lin said.
The Kaohsiung City Council is expected to approve rules for the city government to issue subsidies on ticket prices two years before the line is completed, he said.
The Kaohsiung MRT currently has two lines: the south-north Red Line between Gangshan South and Siaogang stations, and the east-west Orange Line between Hamasen and Daliao stations.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS