Weekend service on Taipei City’s MRT Muzha Line will be suspended for seven weeks to allow for testing the integration of the Muzha Line and the Neihu Line so the Neihu Line can begin operations as scheduled in June, the Taipei City Government said yesterday.
Department of Rapid Transit Systems Commissioner Tom Chang (常岐德) said weekend service would stop from Dec. 6.
The completion date for the Neihu Line, which began construction in 2002, has been postponed several times because of construction difficulties. The line will start from the MRT Zhongshan Junior High Station of Muzha Line and travel to Songshan Airport, Dazhi (大直) and Neihu (內湖).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) voiced concern during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council about the impact of the suspension on commuters but Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that the testing was necessary for the integration of the two lines.
Suspending only weekend service would minimize disruption for commuters, Hau said.
He dismissed Chiang’s speculation that the suspension was moved up because of two pandas China promised to give to the Taipei Zoo.
“It is necessary to start system testing as soon as possible. Besides, I don’t know when the two pandas are coming to Taipei,” Hau said.
Department of Transportation chief Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢) said his department would provide shuttle bus service along Xinhai Road (辛亥) and Jungong Road (軍功路)on the weekends the Muzha Line is not running.
It would also increase the number of buses during those weekends at four major MRT Muzha stations — Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, Taipei City Zoo Station, Zhongshan Junior High Station and Technology Building Station — Luo said.
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