When Yen Yun-nien pushed for this project against widespread opposition, insisting on a railroad instead of just a cable car, he did so thinking that a railroad would also provide the community with transportation. It took two years to build, and Yen invested more than 2.6 million silver dollars (the equivalent of over 60,000 ounces of gold), so you could say that the Pinghsi railroad was laid with gold.
當初顏雲年力排眾議，堅持興建鐵道而非空中纜車，就是考慮到鐵道還有交通的功能，因而投資了兩百六十萬銀元，費時兩年完成。這筆錢相當於五萬二千兩黃金，可以說，平溪線是用金子打出來的。