Apparently it costs 108 million usd for a subway station in Taipei. I came across this plaque at one of the newly opened subway stations. At the bottom it gives the price in Taiwan dollars.
It sounds like a lot. I know that for awhile the subway system ran at a profit, but with the constant expansion over the past few years there hasn't been any data given, so I'll assume that means they are operating at a loss. Taiwan is fairly unique in that when the numbers are bad they just don't release the numbers, which unfortunately makes them almost seem admirable considering they don't do what most places do, i.e. fudge the numbers and release those.
I've talked about the expansion of the subway line before, so I'm not going say much about it now. I do worry though that it's too much too soon. Everywhere you go there is subway construction, but the big problem is in the politics. There are currently six lines being made and new ones are brought up, debated, and approved or declined all the time. I can't help but think with things going so fast and so much money being involved that some political shenanigans must be involved.
Not to mention how much property values go up when an mrt station comes around. I guess we'll just have to wait for the book that will come out 15 years from now that details all the backroom deals and secret money that was going around this current time. The best news is that you can read it too, as Taiwan doesn't have investigative journalism, so the book will be written by some foreign journalist.
Yay, slight dig on Taiwanese journalism, or rather the lack there of. This is what happens when you are up all night studying Chinese, you get catty. Time for bed.
