By KHT Staff. AI illustration image.
KAOHSIUNG — The Cabinet on Thursday outlined a rail development plan aimed at cutting travel time between Kaohsiung and Taitung to about 90 minutes, with a proposed high-speed rail extension through central Kaohsiung to Pingtung forming a key part of the project.
The China Times reports that the Kaohsiung-to-Taitung route is one of four 90-minute rail corridors proposed by the government. The others would connect Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taitung and Hualien, and Hualien and Taipei.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the network would reduce the transportation gap between eastern and western Taiwan while making the country’s rail system more resilient.
Under the proposed Pingtung extension, the high-speed rail line would run 26.2 kilometers from Zuoying (左營), pass through Kaohsiung Main Station (高雄車站), and terminate near Liukuaicuo (六塊厝) in Pingtung. High-speed rail stations in central Kaohsiung and Pingtung would be integrated with existing Taiwan Railways stations.
The government selected this route, known as the “Kaohsiung option,” in December 2024. It hopes to complete the environmental review by the end of 2027, after which the comprehensive development plan would still need Cabinet approval.
The wider southern rail project also includes improvements to the 140.7-kilometer South Link Line. The government plans to double-track and realign 44 kilometers of bottleneck sections. Comprehensive planning is scheduled to begin in September.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (交通部) said the current rail journey from Zuoying to Taitung takes about 120 minutes. The proposed network would reduce that by approximately 30 minutes.
However, the southern projects have not yet been approved for construction, and no completion date has been announced. The only project formally approved by the Cabinet on Thursday was a separate 60.6-kilometer high-speed rail extension from Nangang to Yilan.
