Скачать или смотреть After 20 years of protests, work begins to move railway track underground in Tainan

Today marked the beginning of work in Tainan''s push to move a total of more than 8 kilometers of the city''s railway tracks underground. A group of homeowners who stood to have their houses torn down had managed to delay the project for 20 years, but after some residents agreed to settlements with the city, authorities began demolition along the southernmost section of the planned underground line. This excavator is tearing down a sheet metal building on Yahang Street, in Tainan’s Rende District. What looks like routine demolition work actually represents a major step forward for the Tainan City government’s plan to relocate an urban railway line underground. Protests by a group opposed to the move underground had delayed the project for decades.Mr. ChenAffected ResidentI am cooperating with the (government) and have already agreed to its demands. There’s no other way. Wu Tsung-jungTainan Deputy MayorThe Interior Ministry issued an official document on September 21 covering the schedule of all the related urban development projects. Today we have finally sent in people to begin moving this railway line underground. We will continue to move forward; today is only the beginning.A total of 31 households have been slated for demolition along a planned 1.4-km-long section of rail in Tainan’s Rende District. At the moment, 14 of those households have reached agreement with city officials, and municipal authorities are continuing negotiations with the remaining homeowners.