Budget boycott could halt railway construction: bureauBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party’s (TPP) budget boycott would shutter railroad construction from April, potentially putting contractors out of business, the Railway Bureau said yesterday. Railway Bureau Director-General Yang Cheng-chun holds up documents while speaking to reporters at a news event in Taipei yesterday. Asked whether the proposed high-speed rail projects meant the bureau had “given up” on the conventional rail operated by Taiwan Railway Corp, Yang said this concern was unfounded. The daily ticket count of Taiwan Railway numbered 660,000 last year, up from 460,000 in 2007, when its high-speed rail counterpart launched its first trains, he said. The bureau believes that extending the high-speed rail line is the more efficient solution that would also facilitate regional growth and development, Yang said.

Source: Taipei Times February 11, 2026 17:17 UTC