Partial service along the Panchiao-Nankang line of Taipei City's MRT system will resume today while the Hsiaonanmen extension line is scheduled to become fully operational on Wednesday.
Inspecting the MRT's Panchiao-Nankang line yesterday morning, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"With the segment up and running again, we expect to see the traffic volume between Taipei and Panchiao cities eased a little bit when it becomes operational at 6am tomorrow morning," Ma said yesterday at the Lungshan Temple station.
Trains will be dispatched every 10 to 12 minutes and service hours will end one hour earlier than the Mucha line at 11pm. While it took about eight minutes to travel between Hsinpu and Hsimen before the system broke down, it will now take about 12 minutes.
Those wishing to get off at the Hsimen station and transfer to somewhere else must utilize a bus service, which will run every three to five minutes.
With most of the MRT system up and running again, about 520,000 people have been using it daily. The daily transportation volume before the system broken down was 900,000 people per day.
Ma said that the city's next goal is to resume service between the Hsimen and Chunghsiao Fuhsing stations of the Panchiao-Nankang line.
"However, it may take a little bit longer because it's seriously flooded," he said.
The underground lines of the MRT system were paralyzed beginning on Sept. 16 when Typhoon Nari ravaged the nation and flooded the system's control center in the basement of the Taipei Railway Station.
The Tamsui-Hsintien line was back on line on Oct. 1, with the exception of the Taipei Main Station and Shuanglien stop. 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.
During yesterday's inspection tour, Ma and other city officials were invited along with the media to participate in an emergency response drill conducted by the system's staff.
The scenario enacted was that the train suddenly stopped moving minutes after leaving the Hsinpu station.
As soon as the train stopped, the driver explained the situation to passengers using the train's public-address system, asking them to stay calm. The passengers were told a rescue train would arrive after five minutes to tow the train to the next station.
Passengers were also told to sit down or hold on to overhead bars tightly because the train would jerk slightly when the connection took place. They were also informed that air conditioning and lighting systems would be disrupted.
The Chingshan borough warden of the Wanhua District, Huang Ying-shih (
"Since the line went down, businesses here have sagged by about 50 percent," he said.
There are three night markets in Huang's borough: one on Kuangchou Street, another on Huahsi Street and a third on Wuchou Street. Since there is limited parking in the area, Huang said most people go to the markets on the MRT.
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