Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Work on fully double-tracking the rail line connecting Hualien and Taitung counties in eastern Taiwan will commence next month, the Railway Bureau said Tuesday.
Currently, 69.3 percent of the 162-kilometer railway section between Hualien Station and Taitung's Chiben Station is single track, meaning that trains going in opposite directions must travel in turns when they meet, the bureau said.
According to the bureau, the improved system could increase one-way train travel between the two stations from two-three services per hour to seven-eight per hour.
Travel time between the two stations could also be reduced by 12-45 minutes, said Huang Feng-kang (黃鳳岡), director of the bureau's east region engineering office.
The NT$45.6 million (US$1.5 million) project is scheduled to make the section fully double-tracked by October 2027, according to the bureau.
The Hualien-Taitung railway line, which was fully electrified in 2014, is one of two railroad lines in Taiwan that have not completely installed dual tracks, the other being South Link Line connecting Pingtung and Taitung counties in southern Taiwan.
