More than 62 percent of Taipei residents are dissatisfied with the MRT’s newly opened Neihu Line, a poll by the Taipei City Government found.
The survey polled 1,029 residents between July 20 and July 22 and was conducted by the city’s Research & Development Evaluation Commission.
Results were sent to the Taipei City Council for review on July 28, but the commission did not make the results public.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群) and Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) yesterday made the poll public and called on the city government to improve the Neihu Line’s performance.
The line has experienced one complete shutdown and repeated malfunctions since it began operations on July 4.
The top three complaints in the poll were that the cars are too small, the trains stop frequently and suddenly and the stations are poorly designed.
“[Opening] an MRT line usually helps improve the city government’s approval ratings because it makes people’s lives more convenient. But the Neihu Line has brought public disapproval,” Lee said.
Huang condemned the city government for failing to disclose the poll results.
He urged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) to ensure the Neihu Line becomes stable as soon as possible and to consider renovating the interior of the cars to make better use of the space.
In response, Taipei City Government Spokesperson Chao Hsin-ping (趙心屏) said the city government had not tried to hide the poll results.
Chao said public dissatisfaction with the Neihu Line was a concern for the city government.
“The mayor and all department heads are concerned about the satisfaction rate concerning the line and there’s a lot of room for improvement,” she said.
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