TAIWAN: Premier Su Zhenchang has approved the alignment of an eastern extension of the country’s high speed line from Kaohsiung to Pingtung on January 4.
The approved alignment will run from Zuoying high speed station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung’s main station, running parallel to a motorway for approximately 40 km; through services to and from Taipei would need to reverse at Zuoying.
The chosen options was one of a number of routes which Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and the government had been assessing. Of the two most viable alignments assessed, the approved option avoids passing near to the Renda Industrial Park, a hub for petrochemical plants, but it would not serve Kaohsiung’s main station or the city’s central business district.
