Taoyuan's Guishan Line Passes Feasibility Review

The Taoyuan MRT's Guishan Line (Brown Line) has taken another step to completion, gaining approval from the Ministry of Transportation. By now it has been confirmed that the entire line will be elevated, and since a portion of the route it will follow is somewhat narrow it will be a monorail. Some residents living on the route hoped for an underground line but that was rejected because then the line would be unable to recoup 25% of its cost, as required.
Linking Huilong MRT station and Taoyuan Train Station, the line will cost NT$17.2 billion (US$530 million, for US$46 million/km).

Taoyuan Announces Taoyuan-Xinzhuang Line Alternatives

Last week the Taoyuan County government released two alternatives for a rapid transit line between Taoyuan Train Station and Huilong MRT Station, slated to be the Taoyuan MRT's Brown Line.  The first alternative would be what the linked article calls light rail, and would run underground in Taoyuan City and elevated for the rest of its length.  (I was under the impression, however, that in Taiwan a rail line had to run on the surface for at least a quarter of its length to count as light rail.)  It would be 11.5km long, and cost NT$23.5 billion, or NT$2 billion/km (US$67 million/km).  Its depreciation rate, or the portion of construction costs that would be paid through operating profits, would be just over 30%.  The second alternative is a monorail line, which would be elevated for its full length and cost NT$16.4 billion, or NT$1.4 billion (US$47 million/km).  The lower cost would bring a higher depreciation rate, of 40%.  Presumably this is largely because the whole route would be elevated, which would be more acceptable with monorail since they can use sleeker support structures.