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.
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