User:Taiwantaffy/Shalun Line

The Shalun Line is a branch line of the Taiwan Railway Administration Western Line which is currently under construction in Tainan County, Taiwan. It is intended to link the Western Line to the Tainan High Speed Rail (THSR) station, and speed up transit times between downtown Tainan and the THSR station. When the line is operational, services will run from Shanhua to the THSR station, via Tainan Station. It is scheduled to begin service in early 2011.

History
The Shalun line was proposed as a solution to the lack of a rail connection between the Tainan metropolitan area and the High Speed Rail station in Guiren. Originally the red line of the planned Tainan MRT system was designed to address this issue, but financial considerations meant the MRT project was shelved indefinitely. After public consultation the Executive Yuan decided to prioritize a regular rail link between the High Speed Rail and TRA rail systems.

Construction
The line is completely elevated, which led to early misconceptions that it was a light rail system - in fact it has the same gauge and will run the same rolling stock as the rest of the West Coast line. Work was originally planned to be completed in 2009, but due to flood prevention work on Erren Creek (which crosses under the rail line) the completion date was pushed back to 2011. There have been some complaints from local residents that the increased number of trains passing through Tainan will increase the number of times road traffic must stop at level crossings to let trains pass.

Operational overview
There will be three stations on the line: Zhongzhou, Chang Jung University, and Shalun. Services will run between the South Taiwan Science Park at Shanhua and the High Speed Rail Station at Shalun, stopping in between these two at Xinshi, Yongkang, Tainan, Daqiao, Bao'an, Zhongzhou, and Chang Jung University. Two new stations are also planned to serve the Tainan metropolitan area: Rende and Tainan Airport, with the previously closed South Tainan Station also planned to reopen to commuter traffic. The planned line will cut the journey time between Tainan TRA and Tainan THSR stations to approximately 21 minutes, about half the current time required.