Taiwan's high-speed rail system is now well into its final push to be up and running by January. One of the world's largest engineering projects, the US$15-billion rail link will connect Taipei to Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan.
What effect will this new service have on the island? The best analogy may be Taipei's wonderful subway system. Just 10 years ago, there were many who believed that Taipei didn't need a subway. In the months before it opened, the prognosis was gloomy, with cost overruns, squabbling and sniping between different international contractors, and safety concerns.
But, as most Taipei residents will tell you, the city has been transformed by its mass rapid transit system (MRT). The subway has helped created a sense of pride and identity that the capital never had before.
The effects of the high-speed rail project on Taiwan's western plain - where most of the island's 23 million people live - will be similar. Further, the high-speed rail is a way for Taiwan to tell Japan, the former colonial power, that it has joined the First World. The older generation is keenly aware that the building of the 'bullet train' in the 1960s marked the end of Japan's post-war reconstruction.
Although the number of passengers has climbed to 1 million each day, Taipei's MRT has not succeeded in reducing the volume of traffic on Taipei's roads. Once Taiwanese buy a car, they are extremely reluctant to get out of it.
In much the same way, the high-speed rail system will not remove many cars from Taipei's crowded freeways. In fact, it may even add traffic since the stations are located, for the most part, on the edges of urban centres - with the notable exception of Taipei. The stations will, however, anchor new satellite cities, built largely from scratch, to satisfy pent-up demand for better-quality housing at reasonable prices.