NIGHTTIME LOCAL TRAINS IN PINGTUNG COUNTY TO BE SUSPENDED FOR TWO YEARS|台鐵電氣化 九月起南迴.潮州枋寮大減班

On Taiwan's round-island railway system, only the South-Link Line and the section between Chaozhou and Fangliao on the Pingtung Line have not yet been electrified. Taiwan Railways says it will start this project in the beginning of September and nighttime trains between Chaozhou and Taitung will stop running. During the two years of scheduled construction, the impact will be greatest on short-distance commuters. On July 10, Taiwan Railways announced new shuttle buses that will run every half hour during peak hours. However, local residents say this is not enough. Three to five trains headed both north and south leave Fangliao every hour. Starting in September, trains will no longer run after 5 p.m. south of Chaozhou so that Taiwan Railways can start electrifying the South-Link Line and the section of the Pingtung Line between Chaozhou and Fangliao. These are the last two parts of the Taiwan Railways network that have not yet been electrified. Construction will take two years, and the impact will be greatest on short-distance commuters. Taiwan Railways plans to suspend 14 nighttime trains on Mondays through Thursdays and Saturdays, affecting an estimated 1,000 travelers per day. Following complaints from local residents, Taiwan Railways announced shuttle services. ==LIN CHIEN-CHIH Engineering Office Operations Director == For long-distance routes like Kaohsiung and Chaozhou to Taitung, we will have, in principle, a shuttle bus every 30 minutes. To replace local trains on short-distance routes like Chaozhou to Fangliao, we will have, in principle, shuttles running every 30 to 45 minutes. Shuttles may run every 30 minutes, but residents say they should run as frequently as the trains they are replacing. They also say Taiwan Railways should send officials to affected areas to discuss details with them. In response, Taiwan Railways says it will hold six information sessions in Pingtung County at the end of the month, but it cannot reduce the time between shuttles because that would affect construction. TRANSLATED BY：MONICA CHUANG