The project was completed after six years of construction following a series of alleged scams, including suspected bid rigging, and civil engineering construction accidents.

Premier Chang said, “No pain, no gain” when cutting the ribbon for the inauguration of the modern public transport system.

Mayor Chen thanked one of her predecessors, presidential candidate Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), for his bravery and determination to start building the system so that residents can now benefit from the fast and efficient transport service.

Chen said the city government’s Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp. (KRTC) has promised to complete the orange line in August to provide more convenient service for commuters. There are currently 23 stations along the line stretching from Hsiaokang at the city airport to Chiaotou near Kangshan of Kaohsiung County.

She said the MRT network will be expanded to Luchu and the adjacent Pingtung County.

Residents can take free rides in trial runs until April 6. Those who took the free trial rides were satisfied with the speed of the trains and also admired the various designs of the stations.

But members of the Kaohsiung City Council belonging to the opposition Kuomintang boycotted the opening ceremony, criticizing the mayor and the DPP for rushing to hold the inauguration before the presidential election that will take place in 12 days.

They said at least one of the stations has not yet passed the safety inspection, endangering the safety of passengers.

Officials said there should be no safety problems, as the train will not make stops at that station for the time being.

Construction of the MRT system began with a budget of NT$195.3 billion in late October 2001.

Several massive cave-ins disrupted the construction work. A revolt of several hundred construction workers hired from Thailand protested inhumane treatment by their employers, which also delayed the completion of the MRT system.

Chen was forced to resign from her previous post as chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs over the incident.

A former acting Kaohsiung mayor also stepped down as a result.

The service inauguration made Kaohsiung the second major metropolis in Taiwan to provide the MRT service.

Taipei last week celebrated transporting a record three billion people since the opening of its MRT system in 1996.

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