Taichung City's MRT Scheduled to Break Ground in Oct.

Taipei, April 21, 2009 (CENS)--After years of postponement, Taichung City's mass transit system is scheduled to break ground in October this year and be launched in 2015, according to the revised construction plan for the system passed by the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) yesterday (April 20).

The plan approved by the CEPD is for the first line of the city's mass rapid transit system, the green line which will pass the city's downtown areas, along Beitun Road and Wenxin Road, and connect to the Wuri station of the high-speed rail, in Taichung County, extending 16.71 kilometers, including 15.94 kilometers of elevated route and 0.77 kilometers of underground section, and dotted with 18 stations. The total budget for the line stands at NT$51.39 billion, up 80% from the original level, mainly to cover the increased costs caused by inflation.

The Executive Yuan (the Cabinet) already approved the original construction plan for the line in 2004, with a budget of NT$28.7 billion, whose construction, though, has been repeatedly postponed. The revised plan will be submitted to the Executive Yuan for ratification soon.

An official of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) pointed out that the government will also accelerate the planning and construction of the other two lines of Taichung City's mass rapid transit system, the blue line passing the Zhonggang Road and the orange line passing the Zhongqing Road.

The construction of the green line will coincide with the planned merger of Taichung City and County and the upgrading of the merged entity to a municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the central government by the end of this year. It, therefore, will make valuable contribution to the development of greater Taichung.