Seven stations on the northern section of the planned Taoyuan Metro Green Line are projected to open to the public in 2026, the Taoyuan Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday.
The department also announced plans to further extend the Green Line in the direction of Taoyuan Railway Station in 2028, before the entire route becomes fully operational in 2030.
Plans to extend the Green Line to Jhongli District (中壢) were approved by the Executive Yuan in December last year.
Photo: CNA
The Executive Yuan in March approved the construction of the Taoyuan Metro Brown Line, which would connect Taoyuan with New Taipei City, the department said.
The Green Line extension and the Brown Line project are expected to begin next year.
Meanwhile, the Taoyuan Airport MRT is also being extended to the Laojie River Station to further expand transportation services available to commuters, it said.
The department said it has also begun to move Taoyuan’s railroad underground to further consolidate the city’s public transportation services.
Work has begun this year to transfer tracks at Taoyuan and Jhongli train stations underground, and construction for two new underground train stations — tentatively called Jhonglu (中路) and Jhongyuan (中原) train stations — have also started.
The viability of further extending the Green Line, and developing the Blue and Orange Lines are currently being explored, the department said.
Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng (張善政) yesterday praised the speedy development of Taoyuan MRT-related projects over the past two years.
There is a high possibility the seven stations on the Green Line’s north section would open on schedule, Chang said, adding that the first two cars of the light metro service arrived last week and test runs would likely start on the line’s overhead tracks as early as the first half of next year.
Chang said the city aims to meet projections for the full opening of the main Green Line in 2030 before opening a branch line in 2032.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman