Work on the Danshui light rail system is scheduled to begin later this year, with completion of the first stage due in 2018, after the Council for Economic Planning and Development passed the comprehensive plan for the Danshui Light Rail Transport Network Jan. 7.
The first stage will comprise the Green Mountain Line, with 11 stations, and a further three stations of the Blue Sea Line to connect the system to Danshui’s Fisherman’s Wharf, the CEPD said. The 9.55-kilometer track, which will connect the MRT’s Hongshulin Station to Danhai New Township in Taipei County, is budgeted at NT$12.8 billion (US$439 million), a Ministry of Transportation and Communications official said.
The total construction cost for the 13.99-kilometer, 20-station system is NT$15.3 billion, NT$7.09 billion of which is to be borne by the Construction and Planning Agency under the Ministry of the Interior, NT$6.55 billion by the New Taipei City Government and NT$1.67 by the central government.
Danhai New Township currently has a population of 16,000, but that is projected by the planning agency to rise to about 300,000 by 2041, the MOTC official said.
Once the second stage of construction is completed in 2023, the blue line will extend as far as the MRT’s Danshui Station, with a projected daily ridership capacity of 120,000. (SDH)
SOURCE / Taiwan Today