Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) Premier Su Tseng-chang said Tuesday that he will ask the transportation minister to speed up work on a planned high speed rail (HSR) extension in Pingtung, including a lawmaker's proposal to extend the line further than originally planned.
Su made the comment in response to Legislator Su Chen-ching (, no relation), an independent representing the southern part of Pingtung County, who asked if the high speed rail could be extended further south to Chaozhou Township, instead of the county capital Pingtung City.
The lawmaker said only 2.5 kilometers of the 17.5-km extension currently approved by the Cabinet from the high speed rail's southern terminus in Kaohsiung is actually in Pingtung.
He also noted that it only took two years for the government to consider a proposed 56-km, NT$176.4 billion (US$6.35 billion) extension from Taipei to Yilan County, but 12 years for the Pingtung extension that costs NT$61.8 billion.
In addition, the lawmaker noted that the current plan to extend the HSR rail line to Liukuaicuo on the edge of Pingtung City is impractical, because the location is in the middle of nowhere.
He suggested the extension be lengthened to Chaozhou, which is about 15km south of Pingtung City.
The premier, who was Pingtung County magistrate from 1989-1993, said he understands the perception that the county rarely receives a share of major infrastructure projects, which mainly focus on northern Taiwan.
He admitted that there had been a long discussion on the high speed rail extension to Pingtung, and said he supports the lawmaker's suggestion of extending it to Chaozhou.
"(I) will ask the minister to speed up planning extension to Chaozhou," the premier said.
According to the website of the Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Cabinet approved the feasibility study for the high speed rail extension to Pingtung at the end of 2020.
The bureau has already chosen a contractor for the general planning of the project.
Meanwhile, the ministry asked the bureau to submit a plan for the extension of the high speed rail to Yilan in October 2019, according to the website updated on Oct. 8.
On Sept. 25, the ministry held a discussion with local residents in Yilan on where the high speed rail station should be built, as there are currently four possible locations. A general plan will be submitted for approval once the location is decided, according to the website.
