By KHT Staff. Image via K-news.
KAOHSIUNG — Judicial Reform Party (司法改革黨) mayoral candidate Chang Ching (張靜) has proposed demolishing or relocating Kaohsiung’s former main railway station building as part of a wider transportation and economic platform.
Chang’s party was founded in 2023 and currently none of its members holds elected office.
Chang said removing the Imperial Crown-style building would allow the city to reopen Jhongbo Boulevard (中博大道), formerly a major north-south road through central Kaohsiung.
Built in 1941, the former station was moved from its original location in 2002 to accommodate railway construction. It subsequently housed the Kaohsiung Vision Museum and was returned to the station’s central axis in 2021.
The proposal was one of three transportation measures presented by Chang on Saturday. He also called for converting the former surface railway corridor into an east-west roadway and placing the Kaohsiung Light Rail underground, with its existing right-of-way converted for road traffic.
Much of the former railway corridor has already been redeveloped as the Railway Greenway, while putting the light rail underground would require extensive engineering work and substantial new investment. Chang did not provide cost estimates, construction schedules or feasibility studies for the projects.
His wider platform calls for making the MRT, light rail, city buses and ferries free to passengers. Admission to attractions operated by the city would also be waived.
On environmental policy, Chang said Kaohsiung should seek a share of commodity-tax revenue collected from factories that generate pollution in the city. He proposed using the money to give every resident at least NT$3,000 twice a year as compensation for the environmental burden carried by Kaohsiung.
Other proposals included additional social housing, childcare assistance and help for residents facing debt. Chang described the platform as an effort to increase household income while reducing transportation, housing and other living costs.
