Forecast 2.0 Major Plan for Rail Construction
Taiwan Conference announced the Forecast 2.0 Infrastructure Budget Plan, with a major turn in track policies, and the budget dropped from 424.1 billion (NTD, the same below) to 190.3 billion, which was cut by nearly half. The Taipei City Government bombarded the government, and the administrative authorities said they wanted to do track construction, but suddenly said they would collect it. The relevant plans may all be put into waste, causing waste of manpower and material resources. However, Keelung, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung City Governments, which are in power in the green camp, have frequently slowed down the administrative authorities, and have insisted that the funds and schedule will not be affected.
Taipei City Government spokesman Chen Zhihan said that Mayor Ke Wen-je said in 2017 that he has entered the era of unmanned vehicles. Why is the administrative authorities still spending hundreds of billions of dollars to do track construction may cause repeated investment and waste. The major adjustment of the budget of the Taiwan Conference is obviously because the plan cannot keep up with the changes. How high the next execution rate and whether it can be managed in a solid manner are probably all problems.
Chen Zhihan emphasized that money must be spent on the edge of the knife. These hundreds of billions of yuan are the hard-earned money of the people. From planning to execution, every step should be accurate and in place, otherwise it will definitely cause waste, and forward-looking plans should be more "foresightful".
Keelung Mayor Lin Youchang pointed out that Keelung Light Rail is currently actively integrating with the Beiyi High-speed Railway and the Minsheng Xizhang Line. The speed is very fast in the planning period, including feasibility assessment, comprehensive planning, environmental impact assessment, etc. It only took 2 to 3 years to complete, and the progress is ahead of schedule. I believe that the administrative authorities will not have any problems in funding and the light rail will not have much impact.
Taoyuan Mayor Zheng Wencan explained that the adjustment was because some plans' feasibility reports have not been reviewed and approved, and the schedule may not be too late. However, Taoyuan rail construction, including railway undergrounding, Green Line and Zhongli extension line, are included in the foresight, and the progress is faster than other counties and cities, and is already under construction, so it will basically not be affected.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai also said that Kaohsiung's track construction will not have any impact. It will provide funding needs and subsidies to the Taiwan authorities according to the schedule. The track construction period of some counties and cities will be extended to 7 to 10 years, which is very long. Therefore, in terms of budget arrangement, the budget implementation progress is based on the progress.
