Transport minister defends high-speed rail planBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writerMinister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) yesterday doubled down on the Yilan and Pingtung counties high-speed rail extension plan amid increasing public criticism of the program’s practicality. Chen told ETToday on the sidelines of an unrelated event in Kaohsiung that ministry officials had not “massaged the data” as his predecessor alleged. Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai, left, installs a bolt in a beam in a ceremony marking the beginning of the construction of a new high-speed rail depot in Kaohsiung yesterday. Spurring growth of the transportation grid should be an objective of Taiwan’s high-speed rail system, which has been in operation for close to 20 years, he said. A ministry principle is to establish high-speed rail lines where it is affordable and technologically feasible to bring economic development across the nation, he said.

Source: Taipei Times January 28, 2026 17:23 UTC