TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has approved the route for the southern extension of the high-speed rail line between Kaohsiung and Pingtung, reports said Wednesday (Jan. 4).

The country’s only line began operations in 2007 over a length of more than 350 kilometers between Taipei and Kaohsiung, but in 2019-2020, the government approved proposals to extend the line northeast from Nangang Station in Taipei City to Yilan City, and in the south from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung City to Pingtung City.

The latest track design will not take the trains past the Renda Industrial Park, an area in the districts of Renwu and Dashe known for petrochemical plants, UDN reported. The track will run parallel with the second east-west speedway between Kaohsiung City and Pingtung City.

While the decision to keep the high-speed railway away from chemical plants has won public support due to safety concerns, some local politicians wanted trains to pass by Kaohsiung City’s main railway station in order to help the development of the port town’s southern neighborhoods.

Others described a high-speed train between Zuoying in north Kaohsiung and Pingtung, about 40 kilometers apart, as a waste of public funds, advocating a mass rapid transit line instead. The extension was expected to be ready in 2029, cutting travel time between Taipei and Pingtung to 104 minutes.