The Taichung City Transportation Bureau gradually built the MRT system network and yesterday (the 13th) submitted the Blue Line Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) of the Executive Yuan for review. Director General, Yeh Chao-Fu, said the comprehensive planning statement was submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on March 4th this year and at the same time, the environmental impact evaluation of the MRT Blue Line was accelerated and now the EIS has been completed and sent to the Central Government for screening for active application of approval. The framework construction of the Great Taichung Track Transportation will be continuously expanded to develop the strength of Taichung. According to the Bureau, the EIS of the MRT Blue Line included items such as weathering condition, air quality, noise and vibration, river and water quality, soil, topological situation, waste, ecological situation, landscape and recreation, social economy, transportation and cultural development to evaluate the environmental impact of the MRT Blue Line during construction and operations on the surrounding areas. Contents of the EIS were published at the EPA Environmental Impact Evaluation Forum on March 17th and on March 30th, the "Taichung MRT Blue Line EIS Public Meeting" was organized to improve policy communication and listen to local opinions for the completion of the overall construction of the MRT Blue Line. The Bureau pointed out that EIS was published at the previous Forum and Public Meeting and considerations included concerns such as the addition of Pingding Station, transit to Shalu Train Station, preservation of Wings of Shalu, conservation area at the location of Longjing Factory, impact on the southwest bound link-out route of the Central Taiwan Science Park and traffic controls during construction to ensure that the major construction of the MRT Blue Line meet local needs. The Bureau said the MRT Green Line was officially operated this April and the MRT Blue Line is the second one in Taichung with the planning length of about 24.8 kilometers that include 20 stations, eight elevated ones and 12 underground ones and one five-starred maintenance factory. The route planned starts from the adjacent area of Taichung Harbor and follows the elevated route to run eastbound along with Taiwan Boulevard. After arriving at Longjing, the MRT Blue Line goes underground along with Taiwan Boulevard to arrive at the TRA Taichung Station to form a cross-shaped intersection with the MRT Green Line to provide Taichung with more convenient traffic. The Bureau will continuously listen to suggestions from all fields of society to gradually build Taichung’s MRT system network and to realize the vision of "Taichung’s Anywhere Door."