Taiwan Government is evaluating three different options to extend the high-speed rail line to the southernmost Pingtung County, the Bureau of High Speed Rail announced.
The bureau made the announcement after the Magistrate of Pingtung County, Pan Meng’an, proposed that the HSR line should run beyond its final terminus of Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to serve Pingtung and improve the country’s transport network.
In response to Pan’s appeal, the bureau said it would study three options, according to Allen Hu, head of the bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
The first would be to run one or two high-speed rail trains per hour to Pingtung and Chaozhou on the same route used by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) on slightly modified tracks.
The second option would be to build a separate high-speed rail track parallel to the current TRA rail line with the help of tunnels in certain spots, Hu said.
This option would cost about USD 2.85 billion and result in service 9 minutes faster to Pingtung Station than the Tzu-chiang express train, he said.
The third option would be a completely new line, which could involve demolishing and rebuilding bridges and cost more than USD 3 billion.
The feasibility study will cover technical and legal issues, market demand, land acquisition, operating costs, and the project’s environmental impact.
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