Taichung, Taiwan, Oct. 12 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian made an aerial inspection of the ongoing high-speed railway construction project Friday, starting from Taipei and ending at the Chingchuankang air base in the central Taiwan county of Taichung.
The president said that he hopes the bullet train project can be completed by October 2005 as scheduled to provide fast, high-quality inter-city travel services along Taiwan's western corridor.
The high-speed railway, with a length of 345 km and trains running at a maximum speed of 300 km per hour, is expected to drastically shorten the terrestrial travel time between Taipei in the north and Kaohsiung in the south.
Noting that once the new railway is open to traffic, a trip from Taipei to Kaohsiung with a single stop at Taichung will take only about 90 minutes, Chen said the completion of the project will represent a transport revolution for the country.
At the moment, Chen said, he is not only concerned about the completion date of the new rail system but also about relevant planning work.
Chen said he has two expectations concerning the development of the high-speed railway project -- that the government should hammer out a comprehensive development plan integrating railway, highway, air and maritime transport services and that the central and local governments should join forces to craft new regional development projects in the vicinity of the 14 cities and counties and the 10 stations through which the railway will pass.
As construction of the new railway will certainly affect the everyday lives of those residing in areas near the construction sites, Chen said relevant government agencies and the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) should streamline management and supervision of contractors and strengthen communications with local residents to seek their support and understanding.