By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Kaohsiung’s MRT extension to Linyuan (林園) reached a construction milestone Oct. 22, with work formally launched on its second major civil engineering contract. The project will bring direct Red Line services to southern Kaohsiung, while allowing for a future connection toward Donggang (東港) and Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣) in Pingtung.
The city government said all construction contracts have now been awarded. The approximately 11.77-kilometer Siaogang–Linyuan extension will have seven new stations, six underground and one elevated, with a total budget of about NT$83.7 billion.
The latest contract covers the section beyond RL3 through the southern terminus, RL7, and is worth approximately NT$26.4 billion. Earlier construction began in 2023, and the extension is targeted to open in 2034.
The line will connect residential areas and industrial employment centers in Siaogang (小港) and Linyuan to the existing MRT network. Because it will use the Red Line system, passengers will be able to travel into central Kaohsiung without changing trains at Siaogang Station. The route serves the Linhai and Linyuan industrial areas and the planned new materials circular economy industrial park.
The longer-term ambition is to continue the rail connection across the Gaoping River into Pingtung. A preliminary route plan submitted to Kaohsiung’s city council shows a roughly 16.65-kilometer corridor from Linyuan through Sinyuan (新園), Donggang and Dapeng Bay to Linbian (林邊), where it would connect with Taiwan Railway services. The document explicitly identifies the route and station locations as provisional.
That Pingtung connection is a separate proposal, however, rather than part of the construction launched this week. Earlier planning envisaged a separate elevated light-capacity system connecting at RL7, and officials have identified the system choice and route through the Linyuan petrochemical area as issues requiring further clarification. A single-train journey from Kaohsiung to Donggang is not, as yet, a confirmed part of the plan.
For now, the construction milestone concerns the extension to Linyuan. The proposed Pingtung route would require its own approvals and construction timetable.
