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The agency in charge of transportation in Taiwan is the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Contents
Roads
Accidents
In 2014, there were 295,000 accidents on Taiwan roads, with 391,000 injuries and 1,819 fatalities.
Railways
Total:1,580 km (2009) (all on the island of Taiwan)
Metroway
Currently, the Taipei Metro in Taipei and New Taipei and the Kaohsiung MRT in Kaohsiung are the only two operational rapid transit systems in Taiwan. Several other cities in Taiwan, including Taoyuan and Taichung, have metro systems under construction. In addition, the TRA is planning on introducing commuting services that run similar to rapid transit systems, including moving its lines underground in central Kaohsiung.
The Taipei Metro (台北捷運) was introduced in 1996 and runs on an extensive network of both Multiple Unit for the high-capacity system as well as VAL for the medium-capacity system throughout the metropolitan area of Taipei. The metro system operates 11 lines consisting of 109 stations.
The Kaohsiung most Rapid Transit (高雄捷運) was introduced in 2008 and runs a metro network throughout the metropolitan area of Kaohsiung. The Red Line is in operation as of March 9, 2008 and the Orange Line opened half a year later on September 14, 2008. Future lines are planned in order to parts of Greater Kaohsiung as well as Pingtung County.
The Taoyuan Metro (桃園捷運) is a metro system consisted by 5 lines (Airport MRT, red, green, orange, brown). The Airport MRT is currently under construction. It may serve both Taoyuan City and Taipei City after it begin service in March 2017.
The Taichung Metro (台中捷運) is currently under construction to create a metro network for Taichung City. The network may serve the Changhua and Nantou counties. The metro will start off with 3 main lines (green, blue, and red) but have four other lines planned. The Green Line is scheduled to be completed in 2015.
The Tainan Mass Rapid Transit System (台南捷運) was postponed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in January 2010 due to fear of insufficient riders and construction costs. The government has instead chosen to upgrade current rail systems and buses.
The Hsinchu Mass Rapid Transit System (新竹捷運) was postponed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in January 2010 due to doubts about whether the transit system would be beneficial in the short term.
High-speed rail
The Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) commenced operations on January 5, 2007, after some delays in 2006. The THSR connects Taipei City in the northeast of the island of Taiwan to Kaohsiung City in the southwest. The journey time is about 90 minutes compared to 4 hours by conventional rail. 30 Shinkansen Class 700T sets are running on the 345 km HSL, with station stops at Taipei Main station, Panchiao, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Tsuoying near Kaoshiung. Four additional stations have been opened: Nankang in eastern Taipei, Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin. In 2008 THSR increased the number of trains to 88 per day, each way.
The Shinkansen 700T is similar to the Japanese 700 Nozomi. It operates in 12 car sets (9 powered, 3 trailers) at a speed limit of 300 km/h over standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) track. OCS power is 25 kV AC 60 Hz.
Airports
Total: 40
Length of runways:
Heliports
Total: 31 (2013)
Ports and harbors
Major ports: Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung, Hualien
Other ports: Anping, Su'ao, Taipei
Interior ports: Putai, Magong
Merchant marine: 112 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,827,173 GRT/6,121,877 tonnes deadweight (DWT) (2010)
ships by type:
Pipelines
As of 2013, Taiwan maintains the following pipelines