Environmental panel conditionally approves Taipei-Yilan high-speed rail link

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) Taiwan's environmental impact assessment committee recommended conditional approval for building a high-speed rail line from Taipei to Yilan County after weighing issues such as temporary stockpiling of earth and rock and tree replanting.

The Railway Bureau said the link would begin at Nangang Station's underground platform, run via the districts of Nangang, Xizhi, Pingxi, Shuangxi and Gongliao, skirt the Feitsui Reservoir catchment area, enter Yilan County in Toucheng Township and end southeast of Yilan City.

The Railway Bureau said the roughly 60.6 kilometer corridor will include an estimated 59.6 kilometers of new construction, 1 kilometer of already reserved tail track at Nangang Station, a maintenance depot, and track already surfaced west of the Dakeng River.

The recommendation does not itself authorize construction and matters including operator performance, land development and the role of Taiwan Railway should remain under discussion in the review mechanism, the environmental committee said.

The committee asked the developer to plan the station zone's temporary soil placement and reuse schedule and to identify the responsible management unit.

The committee also advised that new afforestation under the project may not be used for a voluntary greenhouse gas reduction project to avoid double counting.

Acting Yilan County Magistrate Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) said weekend and holiday congestion is severe in Yilan County and that a faster, safer Taiwan High Speed Rail service is strongly desired locally.

Lin said the county will conduct integrated transport planning, including access-road improvements for the station zone, and hopes the high-speed rail link can be completed by 2035.

Former Deputy County Magistrate Huang Shih-chao (黃適超) said rail capacity remains insufficient despite past projects and that the extension would better connect Yilan County with the rest of the island.

Opposing the expansion plans, former Minister of Transportation and Communications Ho Chen Tan (賀陳旦) said the case "mythologizes" Taiwan High Speed Rail, "vilifies" Taiwan Railways and lacks proper consultation.

Ho said the project has not completed a feasibility assessment, that the National Development Council (NDC) does not recognize claims of Executive Yuan approval, and that only one public hearing was held for Yilan County residents set to be most affected by the plans.

Taiwan Railway labor union representative Chiu Shu-sheng (邱述聖) said the core challenge is what happens after passengers reach Yilan County.

According to a Railway Bureau briefing, MOTC convened the bureau and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) last year for multiple meetings on engineering, land and development, operations, law and finance, and incorporated the resulting opinions into the planning report to meet future operational needs.

The bureau said the extension is part of a major national transport effort intended to enhance eastern links, strengthen regional balance and improve the islandwide rail network.