The Taichung MRT Orange Line has just cleared the central government's feasibility study review, but completion is more than 16 years away — bad news for residents and commuters along the route.

• The Orange Line runs 29 kilometres from the airport to Wufeng; comprehensive planning will take three to four years, and construction another 12.
• Initial cost estimates have already risen from NT$139.6 billion to NT$160.2 billion, and the city government says it cannot yet calculate how much more will be added.
• With the Blue Line's costs having ballooned by NT$100 billion, councillors worry the Orange Line's final price tag will likewise far exceed current figures.
• The Orange Line's coastal extension has fallen well behind the Red Line extension — tendered at the same time — after the mayor asked for it to be upgraded from light rail to metro.
• Zhongzheng Road in Wufeng is too narrow, and decisions on station layout and transfer routing have yet to be finalised.

Outlook: No groundbreaking is in sight in the near term, and costs and route details may yet change again.