Transportation Minister Ho Chen Tan says that plans to extend rail lines will create more than 20,000 new jobs every year between now and 2024. The minister was speaking on Monday at a public hearing about the plan.
Ho Chen said that the plans include integrating the high speed rail and Taiwan Railway lines. There are also plans to add a second pair of tracks to increase service to eastern Taiwan.
“The high speed rail and Taiwan Railway can offer convenient transit for passengers, for example between Changhua and Wuri Stations. We hope to build 3 to 4 kilometer long link lines between the high speed rail and Taiwan Railway, in order to extend high speed rail services and even serve the Jiji Line. Second, we are not ruling out the possibility of the high speed rail line expanding [farther south] to Pingtung, maximizing the length of the high speed rail line. We still need to look into ways to offer these services," said Ho Chen.
Ho Chen said the expanded rail lines will be constructed between 2017 to 2024 and should lead to an industry value of NT$700 billion.
