MOTC finalizes route for high speed rail extension to Pingtung

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/27
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Friday decided on a route that would extend Taiwan's high-speed rail line from its current southern terminus in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County.

The ministry picked the route from four proposals because it would cost the least (NT$55.4 billion, or US$1.78 billion), take the shortest time to build, and have the smallest impact on Kaohsiung residents, said Deputy Transportation Minister Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖).

The plan will be sent to the Executive Yuan for final approval by the end of October, Huang said, adding that it could take one year to design it and nine years to build before starting operations in 2029.

The 17.5-kilometer extension would link the final stop of the high-speed rail line — Zuoying Station — and Liukuaicuo Station on the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) Pingtung line, which is one stop west from the TRA Pingtung Station, Huang said.    [FULL  STORY]