While the design phase will take about one year, the construction is projected to cost at least NT$58 billion spanning over 10 years. The planned rail line is about 48 kilometers between Nangang and Jiaoshi, with stops in Toucheng and Dingpu.

A trip from Taipei to Yilan on the planned line will take less than 40 minutes, which is about half as long as a trip on the current line.

According to Yilan County Magistrate Lu Guo-hwa, Highway No. 5 is increasingly congested as more and more Taipei residents take day-trips to Yilan. Since the highway is projected to reach maximum traffic capacity in 2015, the building of a direct rail line from Taipei to Yilan is urgent, added Lu.

A similar proposal by Yilan County was rejected in 2006 based on an environmental evaluation of ecologically sensitive areas that the line would pass through.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railway Administration recently added the service of tilting trains to decrease travel time through the mountainous terrain on the current rail line, which takes about 85 minutes from Taipei to Yilan.