The Taipei City Government said yesterday that it would not open any more MRT stations to cyclists as passenger numbers on the MRT were expected to exceed 1.3 million next year.
A total of 27 MRT stations on the Danshui Line, Xindian Line, Zhonghe Line, Tucheng Line, Nangang Line, Banqiao Line and Xiaonanmen Line allow passengers to carry bicycles onto the trains.
Despite passengers urging the city government to open up more stations to cyclists, the government said that stations would become too crowded if it did so.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) figures showed that average passenger numbers on the MRT were 1.2 million a day, and were expected to hit more than 1.3 million after the Neihu Line opens next year.
Although cycling has become more popular recently and increasing numbers of Taipei residents have requested that the company open up more MRT stations to cyclists, the company decided not to add any more stations to the list in order to prevent stations and trains from getting too crowded, the company said yesterday during a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) supported the company’s decision, but added that future MRT construction plans should take cyclist needs into consideration.
TRTC began opening some MRT stations to cyclists on weekends and holidays in 2004.
Statistics from the city government showed that the number of passengers carrying bicycles onto the MRT has increased from an average of 200 a day to more than 800.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS