PINGTUNG WANTS EXTENSION OF HIGH SPEED RAIL LINE|爭取高鐵延伸到屏東 居民上街頭發聲

Pingtung County government and legislators blasted the Minister of Transportation and Communications Ho Chen Tan for saying that the MOTC will not consider a THSR station in Pingtung for the time being. On Jan.13, the MOTC said that they are currently researching the issue. However, members of the group lobbying for THSR extension still took to the streets on Jan.15 to protest the decision. Pingtung residents raised banners outside Pingtung train station, asking the government to extend the High Speed Rail line to Pingtung. The lobby group, which was set up 6 years ago on Facebook, called on over 900 members and netizens to take to the streets to fight for their right to transport in Pingtung. ==SU WEN-CHUNG HSR extension lobbyist==　 Pingtung's transport has always been ignored by the government. We hope that through our lobbying activities we can appeal to netizens who are concerned about Pingtung's transport, and make it better. The lobby group handed out fliers, hoping to raise local awareness about the issue. The lobby group said that although a new train station opened last year, and there was an elevated railway, Pingtung's transport to other parts of the country was still inconvenient. ==LI YI-CHEN Chiayi County resident== I think the issue not only concerns Pingting residents, but also people across Taiwan who want to visit Pingtung. I also think that having no THSR service to arrive at Pingtung is a punishment for these people. Pingtung County government and local representatives have called on the central government to extend the HSR line to Pingtung many times. They emphasized that there are 830,000 people living in Pingtung, and over 800,000 visitors came to Pingtung's Kenting City every year. The MOTC said that on Jan. 13, they do in fact have a research project on feasibility. The lobby group hopes that the government can speed up the evaluation process, and issue a report on the pros and cons of extending the HSR line to Pingtung as soon as possible, so that the public can join in discussion of the issue. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 民眾在屏東火車站拉起布條，高鐵延伸到屏東，不只地方政府爭取，在臉書已經成立六年的爭取高鐵到屏東聯盟，目前有9百多個成員，下午也首度號召網友一起走上街頭，為自己的交通權益發聲。 ==爭取高鐵到屏東聯盟 蘇穩中== 屏東的交通一直被政府漠視 我們希望透過這個聯盟的成立 號召一些關心屏東交通的網友 去把屏東交通的建設做好 聯盟也自行準備傳單發放，希望爭取更多屏東人關心，尤其屏東雖然去年剛啟用新火車站，鐵道也架高，但對外交通的便利性並沒有提升，聯盟裡不只屏東人希望高鐵延伸，連外地民眾都來聲援。 ==嘉義縣民 李翊宸== 高鐵延伸到屏東這件事 我覺得不只是屏東人的事情 是所有台灣想要 到屏東來玩的這些人 事實上我覺得對這些人 都是一種處罰 屏東縣政府和民意代表已經多次向中央喊話，強調屏東有83萬人口，每年也有超過800萬人到屏東墾丁玩，需要高鐵延伸到屏東。前天交通部強調已經啟動可行性研究，但聯盟表示，希望更加快評估速度，並且公佈延伸案的利弊因素和正反聲音，讓民眾參與討論。 記者 王介村 許政俊 屏東報導