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.

MRT Expansion Plans: The Wugu-Taishan Line

Proposed route of the Wugu-Taishan Line, from the New Taipei Dept. of Transportation website.  The Wugu-Taishan Line is red, the Airport Line is green, the Circular Line is yellow and the Luzhou Line is orange.

Recently plans were unveiled for a Luzhou-Wugu-Taishan light rail line, which would run roughly parallel to the western edge of the Taipei Basin to link Luzhou Station in the north to the Airport Line in the south.  It will parallel the Circular Line and serve built-up areas of Wugu that would otherwise be far from any MRT station even once other currently planned lines are completed.  The planned length is 7.98 km, with 8 stations, and some segments will be elevated.
According to the department's vice commissioner,  Chen Wenrui, light rail construction costs NT$200-300 million 2-3 billion, or US$6.6-10 66-100 million, per kilometer.
Although it's great that the outer reaches of the Taipei Basin are also slated to get rail, and I think for the most part this plan makes sense seeing as it uses probably the only road wide enough in the area to build a rail line, I do wonder about the southernmost section of the line (leftmost in the above map), where instead taking the shortest route to link with the Airport Line at stop A4 (Xinzhuang Fuduxin), the Wugu-Taishan Line swerves south to parallel it, only joining it at stop A5a (Furen University Hospital).  Meeting the Airport Line farther to the west means that anyone from Wugu headed towards Taipei Main is going to have a longer trip, possibly as much as 10 minutes longer judging from the map.  Furthermore, this stretch is already close enough to the Airport Line that it needlessly duplicates it, and residents of that area bound for Wugu or Luzhou could simply transfer at Xinzhuang Fuduxin without taking significantly more time.  If it did turn out that there is a need for a rail line along that route, a second line could be built that instead of joining the Wugu-Taishan Line would intersect it at station W5, then continue east and meet the Circular Line at Y19A.  This would provide the same coverage as the current plan but with better connections.

Kaohsiung City Councilor Spreads Mass Transit Non-Sequitors

Kaohsiung is planning a light rail line to complement its high-capacity MRT system.  For those who don't know, light rail usually refers to any urban rail system that runs on ground level.  Light rail systems are often also called trams or streetcars.  Kaohsiung's would form a loop around the center of the city.
I think there are legitimate questions to be asked about what direction Kaohsiung should go in with its mass transit system, and whether or not it should build this light rail line.  But Kaohsiung City Councilor Xiao Yongda (蕭永達), the lone city councilor to oppose the light rail line, did not address these issues.  Instead he told made unsupported arguments such as:
-All developed cities with light rail are in cold climates, so people are unable to ride scooters like in Kaohsiung.  This is outright false: San Fransisco, Pheonix, Hong Kong, and numerous other cities in the US and southern Europe all have warm climates and light rail.  Light rail cars can be air-conditioned, which would be far more comfortable in summer than driving a scooter.  Light rail can also be more comfortable during typhoons.
-Light rail would lose money like the rest of the MRT system.  Roads also lose money but no one seems to make a big deal about that.
-Level crossings with roads will lead to more accidents.  What leads to accidents in Taiwan is driving.  I very much doubt that other cities which have extensive light rail/ tram systems have worse traffic safety records than Kaohsiung.
-Kaohsiung's "DNA" is different.  This isn't even really an argument, just an assertion.  Xiao fails to explain what about Kaohsiung is so different that a form of transportation used all over Europe, Asia and America would fail in Kaohsiung.