Looks like some transit leaders have agreed to extend the THSR to Yilan, among other improvements mentioned in the article. This is great, as Iāve found Puyuma tickets to be hard to come by and the crowded highways can make the busses inconvenient at times. Even if you donāt plan on taking it it would reduce crowding via other transit methods.
Anyone found anymore details in Chinese-language news?
If true, this extension will turn into a long protracted process, as it will involve I believe cutting right through Taipeiās water supply area (i.e. Feitsui Reservoir).
It could be minimal gain with maximal pain.
Guy
Come on! Who uses Puyuma to get to Yilan? You have heaps of other choices.
And: this proposed HSR extension will not help you to get to points further south in Hualien and Taidong.
So what exactly is the point?
Guy
Would be nice for getting back to Taipei on a Sunday evening
The article mentions that theyāre specifically planning on avoiding this reservoir. Donāt ask me how.
They did the freeway, so the railway should be possible too, but I doubt it will be realized. So much tunneling, so much money.
Also, I believe in 20~30 years individual automated air travel will start taking off, making lot of land-based travel obsolete.
Hah, Iām just referencing the current āfastestā route.
I wonder how long it would take to Taipei from Yilan
3. Minsheng-Xizhi Line to be integrated with Keelung MRT
As the future Minsheng-Xizhi and Keelung LRRT lines are parallel to Datong Road from Zhangshuwan to Xike, the two lines will share the same tracks in that section to streamline construction and facilitate the transfer of passengers.
4. Keelung LRRT endpoint
The new light rail line will run from Nangang to TRAās Badu Station, in Keelungās Nuannuan District. As for additional stops in Keelung after Badu, different options are being evaluated and planning and discussions will continue.
Interesting. I see this greatly picking up real estate interest in Xizhi and the adjacent part of Keelung. Badu is where Iāve done lots of swimming in the past. Not sure if that pool is still open after it closed about a year ago. Iāll need to check that.
I see a bit of overkill now, though, for the Xike to Taipei commute: train, lots of busses of course, this new rail, and the planned Minsheng-Xizhi MRT line? All good for me because Iām minutes away from Xike station, but it does seem like a bit much.
Maybe if real estate prices pick up it will be time for us to sell. (Sorry to view this only in these terms! I think Iām really becoming Taiwanese.)
They obviously will be fighting like cats and dogs as to where the LRRT line will have stations in Keelung proper. Badu and Nuannuan are dumps currently in my opinion. Keelung would be a hell of a lot better with an MRT into it.
HSR to Yilan is also awesome , again itās at least ten years off though.
It looks like it was estimated to be about 13 minutes (Nangang to Toucheng) when this was discussed last year
Did you ever wonder how long it took to get through the rock digging that tunnel?
Interesting because the Keelung LRT was supposed to share lines with the TRA trains. However TRA is a narrow gauge while MRT (Blue/red/green/yellow) are standard gauge. So I guess this means the Keelung LRT will be standard gauge now and not compatible with TRA.
The Yilan tunnel took around 10yrs to dig, but they lost a lot of time in the beginning by crushing a TBM in < 100m. Iām sure they could do it lot faster now.
Donāt think the end point in Taipei is that brilliant, if you are going to the HSR/TRA you need to get off at NanExHall, transfer to the blue line for one stop and then transfer again, if they could somehow link it with the blue line tracks and run the trains all the way to Nangang MRT stn it would be far better.
I guess the āspecificsā havenāt yet to be worked out .
Yet itās a much better plan than the half arsed shared TRA track jdea before.
Wikipedia says 15 years for the car tunnel. Train tunnels are a lot easier though. Very happy to hear this.
Not everyone shares this view. Hereās one piece published earlier this month arguing itās a bad idea.
Guy
I am not the one to say that this is BS, but I am curious where the ādragon-vein-breakingā is evident in the present fortunes of Yilan.
The Hsuehshan Tunnel was necessary, but it also caused a great deal of controversy within Taiwanās feng shui community, as some believe it broke Yilanās ādragon vein.ā It could be argued that extending the HSR would once again break the areaās ādragon vein.ā It is not necessary, and the land set aside for its construction should be left to nature.
Poor argument as to why a HSR shouldnāt be built.
I agree.
But the cost/benefit of this kind of project (something not discussed by that op-ed) should be rigorously studied.
Guy
Baby steps.