By KHT Staff. AI illustration cover image. Wiki Commons map/Taichung Govt image.
TAICHUNG — A dispute over the rising cost of Taichung’s MRT Blue Line has pulled Kaohsiung’s Yellow Line into the debate, after KMT Taichung mayoral candidate Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) questioned why Kaohsiung received central government support for a major budget increase while Taichung is being criticized for seeking the same.
The United Daily News reported that Taichung’s Blue Line has not yet begun main civil construction, but its original budget of NT$161.5 billion is no longer sufficient. The Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Bureau estimates that the project may require nearly NT$100 billion more to complete the 11 underground stations.
DPP Taichung mayoral candidate Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) criticized the possible increase, saying the city government should bear the main responsibility for years of delay.
Chiang said the issue should be judged by the same standard used for other major rail projects. He said Kaohsiung’s Yellow Line also received approval for a NT$90.6 billion budget increase, bringing its total cost to NT$234.8 billion.
Chiang said inflation and rising material prices have affected public works across Taiwan, not only in Taichung. He said it would be unreasonable to accept higher costs in Kaohsiung while treating similar increases in Taichung as unacceptable.
The debate shows how rising construction costs are becoming a political issue in major city rail projects, especially as local governments seek central government support for MRT expansion.
Kaohsiung’s Yellow Line is planned as a major east-west and north-south connector, linking several dense districts and transfer points in the city’s growing MRT network.
The Taichung Blue line is set to begin at the Port of Taichung, and then follow Taiwan Boulevard until it reaches Taichung railway station. Then it will cross the railway tracks and terminate in the East District. The tracks will be elevated from the Port of Taichung until the border of Longjing District and Xitun District, where the tracks continue underground. The depot will be near the Longjing Interchange of National Freeway 3.
