THRSC to Start Building of New Stations

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) is planning to start construction of new high-speed rail stations in Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin counties.

THSRC revealed that all three projects have passed environmental impact assessments from Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), following a six-month evaluation period, during which the rail company addressed soil and water conservation issues.

Ground subsistence was a major concern in three out of the four major sites along the planned high-speed rail route; the EPA approved the plan after THSRC addressed the problems.

The stations will be built at a combined cost of TWD7.5bn ($249m) and are scheduled to commence operations in July 2015; services of the three stations will be available to residents in 12 urban areas on Taiwan’s western corridor.

In total the company will add four stations by July 2015, with Nangang station, which will replace Taipei Main Station as the first stop on the high-speed service, set to be opened by January 2015.

Travel between Kaohsiung and Taipei is expected to take an estimated 30 minutes longer with the addition of four new stops. THSRC is in the process of adjusting its service based on the demand of customers and the number of stations to allow more passengers to use the high-speed trains.

Last year, Taiwan unveiled a plan to invest $1.8bn to seal 1,000 wells over the next ten years to save its high-speed rail from subsiding into the ground.

The project will reduce the rate of subsidence along a stretch of rail in central Taiwan due to excessive draining of ground waters.
Taiwan’s 345km high-speed rail line was built at a cost of $15bn and used Japanese bullet-train technology.