The Siaogang Linyuan Line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System has once again taken a big stride forward. The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan) (EPA) convened a review committee meeting today (29^th) to review the Environmental Impact Statement of the Siaogang Linyuan Line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System. The meeting was conducted via video conferencing and the review conclusion drawn was “The review has been approved.” According to the Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government, the approval of the Environmental Impact Statement of the Siaogang Linyuan Line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System will be the key to the approval of the comprehensive planning report by the Executive Yuan. If the subsequent comprehensive planning and basic design are successfully approved by the central government, ground breaking will commence by the end of the year at the earliest. The objective is to complete construction and open the facility to traffic by 2030.

According to the Environmental Impact Statement of the Siaogang Linyuan Line on the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System, the EPA convened two initial project team meetings. Targeting the issues proposed at the initial review meetings, including the appropriateness of the RL7 elevated station setup, the construction traffic conditions, the implementation and management of the construction tool and vehicle self-management mark, monitoring of the surrounding ecology of Elanus caeruleus, etc. The Kaohsiung City government will explain the issues one by one through video conferences, ultimately passing the review and obtaining approval from the review committee.

The city government would like to thank the environmental assessment commissioners for their reminder and recommendations. It has also expressed that it would to the best of its abilities engage in various ecological environment protection measures during the construction period, thereby reducing the impact of the construction on the environment. According to Kaohsiung City Vice Mayor Lin Chin-Jung (Charles Lin), the planned route of the Siaogang Linyuan Line passes through the three national industrial parks, with the annual output exceeding 1.52 trillion, making it an important part of the semiconductor materials on the S corridor in Southern Taiwan. To the Siaogang Linyuan area’s ongoing petrochemical industry development, the Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government construction is urgently needed to boost regional transformation, hence the importance and necessity of the Siaogang Linyuan Line.

According to Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government Director-general Wu Yei-Long, the comprehensive planning operations of the Siaogang Linyuan Line officially commenced in December 2021. The review committee meeting of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) completed reviewing the comprehensive planning report on June 8, 2022; the MOTC submitted the report to the Executive Yuan for a review on June 24. Upon approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Siaogang Linyuan Line by the EPA, the Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government shall promote the Siaogang Linyuan line construction plan at an accelerated pace.