Panchiao-Nankang line will be partly running by Oct. 15

Partial service along the Panchiao- Nankang line of Taipei's MRT system may resume by Oct. 15.

Officials from the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said yesterday they hope to have service between Hsinpu and Hsimen restored by that time.

"It's not a guarantee, however," said Lee Po-wen (李博文), chairman of Taipei Rapid Transit. "It might be delayed for security reasons, and operating hours will end one hour earlier at 11pm."

In addition, Lee said the company may not know for another two weeks when the entire line will be fully operational.

The underground Panchiao-Nankang line has been shut down since Sept. 17, when Typhoon Nari flooded the MRT's control center in the basement of Taipei Railway Station. Since then, trains running on other lines have been operated manually.

The underground section of the Tamsui-Hsintien line resumed operations on Oct. 1, though the Taipei Main Station remains unavailable. The underground segment between Kuting and Nanshihchiao stations on the Peitou-Nanshihchiao line resumed service on Sept. 20.

The above-ground Mucha line was not affected by Typhoon Nari.

Because the segment between Kuting and Nanshihchiao is now up and running, the temporary express bus lane along Roosevelt Road will be reopened to all traffic today.

The lane had been intended to help ease congestion while the segment was not in operation.

Although operations on the Panchiao-Nankang line have not yet been resumed, the temporary express bus lane along Chunghsiao East and West roads will also be reopened to all traffic today.

Chen Chin-sheng (陳金盛), secretary-general of the city's transport bureau, said doing away with the bus lanes was a result of public pressure.

"We've received many complaints from both the public and city councilors since the temporary measures took effect on Oct. 2," Chen said. "To defuse the tension, we have no choice but to terminate them. I just hope it won't push too many commuters to drive or ride motor scooters to work or school."

With parts of the MRT system shut down, many of the 900,000 daily commuters using the system have been forced to use alternative means of transport.

Currently, about 440,000 passengers are still using the MRT, while 360,000 have switched to buses and the remaining 100,000 have opted for driving or riding motor scooters.