The first phase of the Danhai Light Rail Transit system in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) opened yesterday, with people being offered free rides for a month starting today.
A ceremony was held at the Tamsui District Office, with New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) taking guests on an inaugural ride.
The 7.3km-long tram line, called the Green Mountain Line, connects the Hongshulin MRT Station and Kanding Station to the north, and has a total of 11 stations. It is the first light-rail system in northern Taiwan.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems
It is part of what is to become a four-section rail network comprised of the Blue Seaside Line currently being built, as well as the Bali and Sanzhi lines, which are still in the planning stages.
The first phase of the Blue Seaside Line is to have three stations — Taipei University of Marine Technology, Shalun Beach and Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf — and is expected to be completed next year, the New Taipei City Government said.
The second phase would add six more stations along the Tamsui River — extending the line from the wharf to Tamsui MRT Station — it said.
The Danhai Light Rail Transit System is expected to cost NT$15.3 billion (US$496.37 million), the city government said.
It is part of the 1,748 hectare Danhai New Town project, which was launched in 1992 in a bid to attract 300,000 residents by 2036.
The Green Mountain Line has seven elevated stations and four ground-level stations.
The trams travel on rail tracks at ground level, but share the road with other vehicles and follow the traffic rules, such as stopping at red traffic lights, the city said.
The cars do not have automatic doors and passengers need to press a button to open them, it said.
The stations are decorated with pieces by artist Jimmy Liao (幾米), New Taipei Metro Corp said, adding that the cars are painted light blue and have large windows for sightseeing.
After the free-ride period is over, the trams are to operate every day between 6:30am and 10pm at 15-minute intervals, with fares ranging from NT$20 to NT$25, company general manager Wu Kuo-chi (吳國濟) said.
Passengers using stored-value cards would receive a 20 percent discount, the company said, adding that passengers could also use the NT$1,280 monthly pass introduced by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments.
Starting in June, nine mobile payment services would be introduced: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, iPASS x Line Pay, Ali Pay, Union Pay, Garmin Pay, Fitbit Pay and Hami Pay, the company said.
The Danhai Light Rail Transit system is a joint venture by Taiwan Rolling Stock Co (台灣車輛) and German-based Voith Engineering Services, that has given Taiwanese transportation manufacturing companies the opportunity to be involved in the development process for the first time, Chu said.
The partnership seeks to facilitate technology transfers and create a supply chain and maintenance operations, he added.
The light-rail transit system could also create additional business opportunities worth NT$14.4 billion nationwide if adopted by other cities, New Taipei Metro Corp said.
The government hopes that by 2025 the nation will be able to manufacture more than half of the light rail components it needs.
The nation’s first light-rail system opened late last year in Kaohsiung.
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
More than 8,000 people took part in a rally in Taipei yesterday to express support for more defense spending, after the opposition slashed the Cabinet’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion) special defense budget and capped it at NT$780 billion. The demonstrators urged the Cabinet to propose another bill. Taiwan Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said the main problem of the passed budget plan is the removal of funding for critical items, not just that the total amount is smaller. Critical budget items included purchasing or developing uncrewed vehicles, Strong Bow (強弓) missile systems, additional ammunition, artificial intelligence-powered combat systems and Taiwan-US
RSS