Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan headed back to his native Taoyuan on Monday, to visit the site of a future Taoyuan Metro station. Construction will start soon on the metro’s Brown Line, after the Cabinet approved its feasibility study and comprehensive planning report last week. Once the Brown Line is up and running, travel time from Taoyuan to Xinzhuang will go down to just 18 minutes. Traveling to Taipei from Taoyuan will take about 40 minutes. Officials hope to complete the line in eight years, to bring Taoyuan even closer to the capital.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Vice premier
The premier had meant to come make the announcement himself, but since Taoyuan is my hometown, he asked me to do it.

Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan went on an inspection tour of the Taoyuan Metro Brown Line project on Monday. Back in his native Taoyuan, Cheng was voluble and at ease.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Vice premier
So the vision of “Three Hearts, Six Lines” that I had during my tenure is about fully realizing this plan. Work on three lines is already underway, while the other three lines are awaiting government approval. I hope that the Taoyuan City government will catch the ball I’m throwing them here. I’ll try to be accurate with my pitching, if they do their best with catching.

During his time as Taoyuan mayor, Cheng initiated a six-line metro project, three lines of which are now under construction. The newly approved Brown Line will connect Taoyuan Train Station to Taipei Metro’s Huilong station, linking up with Taipei’s Zhonghe-Xinlu Line, as well as the Shulin Line, which is under construction. In the future, travel time from Taoyuan to Xinzhuang will go down to 18 minutes by metro. It will take about 40 minutes to get from Taoyuan to Taipei.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Vice premier
Between Taoyuan and Taipei, there will be the high-speed rail, the standard railway, and three metro lines. Taoyuan will share a “one-hour living circle” with Taipei. With the Guishan Brown Line, the commuting time from Taoyuan to Xinzhuang will drop drastically to just 18 minutes.

Wang Kwo-tsai
Transport minister
The first thing is what was just mentioned – the fact that initially the tracks were elevated, but Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan pushed for them to be underground, so that they do not become obstacles to urban traffic. The second thing is that the project was initially meant to be a light rail, but later became a metro with medium capacity. This was very forward-thinking.

The Brown Line will cost NT$45.6 billion. The central government will provide NT$23.8 billion, with the local contribution significantly cut to NT$21.8 billion. The goal is to complete the line in eight years, to achieve a “one-hour living circle” between Taoyuan and Taipei.

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