《TAIPEI TIMES》 Cabinet approves new MRT line for Kaohsiung

LONG IN THE WORKS: Construction of the proposed Yellow Line that would connect Kaohsiung’s Red and Orange MRT lines is to begin by the end of this year

/ Staff writer, with CNA

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The Executive Yuan on Friday approved a plan to build a new line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit （MRT） system, Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） announced yesterday.

Su made the announcement during an inspection tour in the city.

The Kaohsiung City Government said construction of the new line would begin by the end of this year and it would open by the end of 2028.

The project has been allocated a budget of NT$144.2 billion （US$5.08 billion）, with the central government covering NT$83.38 billion and the city government paying for the rest.

The proposed Yellow Line would connect Kaohsiung’s Red and Orange MRT lines, as well as a light-rail system and a railway station, the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau said.

The line would extend 22.91km — 1.08km above ground and 21.83km below ground — with 23 stations and a maintenance depot, the National Development Council has said.

It would pass through Niaosong （鳥松）, Sanmin （三民）, Lingya （苓雅）, Sinsing （新興）, Fongshan （鳳山） and Cianjhen （前鎮） districts, and serve 1.16 million people, or about 41.8 percent of the city’s population, the bureau said.

It would pass through neighborhoods home to three universities and seven junior-high schools, high schools and vocational schools, the bureau added.

In related news, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on Tuesday approved the route for a proposed MRT line that would connect New Taipei City’s Xizhi District （汐止） and Taipei’s Donghu （東湖） area.

The plan needs approval by the Executive Yuan.

The elevated line would take nine years to build and would meet long-standing calls by Xizhi residents to improve public transport links in the area, the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems said.

The planned line would stretch eastward from Donghu MRT Station, which is part of the Taipei MRT system, to the Xizhi District Office, where passengers would be able to transfer to Xizhi Railway Station operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration, the department said.

The line would have four stations and would also connect to a planned MRT line connecting Keelung and Taipei, it said.

The 5.56km line, 4.75km of which is to run through New Taipei City, is expected to cost NT$37.7 billion, said the department, which is responsible for the line’s construction.

There is a separate plan to extend the proposed line westward from Donghu to Taipei’s Dadaocheng （大稻埕） area. That section would be underground, running roughly parallel to the Songshan MRT Line. The Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems is responsible for its planning.

The entire proposed line stretching 17.4km from Xizhi to Dadaocheng would further integrate transport links in Taipei and New Taipei City by connecting Taipei’s Datong （大同）, Zhongshan （中山）, Songshan （松山） and Neihu （內湖） districts with Xizhi, the department said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES