Cabinet greenlights High Speed Rail extension to Yilan

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday approved a project to extend the High Speed Rail (HSR) from Taipei to the northeastern county of Yilan, saying it would greatly shorten travel time between the two areas.

"The project is expected to help ease congestion on National Freeway No. 5 and improve transportation between Taipei and Yilan, thereby increasing rail capacity in eastern Taiwan," Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said during a weekly Cabinet meeting.

The 60.6-kilometer line will connect HSR Nangang Station in Taipei with a planned HSR Yilan Station, Railway Bureau Director-General Young Cheng-chung (楊正君) told a Cabinet news conference.

The journey would take around 28 minutes, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

The plan cleared an environmental impact assessment in August 2025, and comprehensive planning was completed in January this year, Young said.

The project is expected to cost NT$352.1 billion (US$10.9 billion), including the cost of building stations, purchasing trains and acquiring land. It is scheduled to be completed by 2037, he said.

The bureau will now begin soliciting private-sector contractors, carrying out urban planning, and drafting construction and land acquisition plans, Young added.

To make transfers between the HSR and Taiwan Railway easier, a new Taiwan Railway station will be built and integrated with the planned HSR Yilan Station near Yilan County Hall, Deputy Transportation Minister Wu Sheng-yuan (伍勝園) said.

The bureau estimates that the extension will serve around 27,000 passengers on weekdays and 60,000 on weekends by 2051.