Yilan High-Speed Rail Passes Review, But Views Split

TaiwanPlus News

An extension of the high-speed rail line from Taipei's Nangang Station to Yilan in northeastern Taiwan has passed an environmental review. But opinions about the project are mixed.

Transcript

00:00People traveling to Taiwan's northeast coast may get there a bit faster in the future.

00:05An environmental review board has given the green light to a long-awaited plan to extend

00:09the high-speed rail line 60 kilometers, bridging rugged terrain, easing travel bottlenecks,

00:15and bringing the 450,000 people of Ilan County much closer to the rest of the country.

00:20Some locals are thrilled, even though the project will likely take more than a decade

00:24to finish.

00:25But while the plan may satisfy regulators, it is controversial.

00:37Opponents say claims of faster travel times are overblown, not because the trains aren't

00:41fast enough, but because the new Ilan station may be hard to get to, and not close to where

00:46most travelers will want to go.

00:48It's a problem several other out-of-the-way stations on the existing line already have.

00:52Workers at the Taiwan Railway Corporation are cautiously optimistic.

01:07Transport officials say that when high-speed rail projects open, conventional rail benefits

01:10too.

01:22But the railway union says high volume doesn't necessarily translate into profit.

01:27And in fact, low ticket prices and a shrinking population already mean it's hard to break

01:31even.

01:32This project, they worry, will be an extra blow to the conventional railways finances,

01:36affecting all its operations.

01:54Some people living along the planned route also worry about the impact that elevated rail

01:59lines may have on where they live.

02:01The project promises to link Ilan to the next stop in Taipei in just 20 minutes, but final

02:07approval for the construction projects may not come until the end of the year or the beginning

02:10of next year, with 11 years of construction to follow.

02:14And if opponents have their way, the whole idea will be scrapped.

02:18Patrick Chen and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.

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