Thousands of people flocked to Taipei’s Maokong Gondola yesterday as the cable car system reopened for six days of free rides following an 18-month suspension caused by damage from a typhoon.
System operator Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) set a limit of 10,000 visitors each day starting yesterday. Passengers began lining up at the Taipei Zoo Station as early as 6am.
Chou Hsi-ze (周熙澤), 63, a Hsinchu resident who traveled to Taipei on Monday night, was the first passenger to use the gondola after he arrived at 6am.
“I am confident about the safety of the gondola and I am very excited to ride the cable car for the first time today,” he said.
Another visitor, surnamed Chang, took the gondola with her mother and sister-in-law. She said she had a wonderful time riding on the gondola before it was suspended, though she did call on the city government to take more measures to ensure its safety.
The line snaked around the station and the 10,000 spots were all taken by 3:13pm, TRTC deputy chairman Shen Chih-chang (沈志藏) said.
The test period will run through Sunday and the gondola will resume full operations on Tuesday.
Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday criticized the city government for reopening the gondola system without ensuring its safety, casting doubt on the conclusions of the gondola inspection report, which took six months and was conducted by the Chinese Union of Professional Civil Engineer Associations.
The report concluded that it was safe to resume operations.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Hung Chien-yi (洪健益) said the city government should seek professional advice from other organizations.
“The inspection report is fake and the city government should not risk people’s lives by reopening the gondola,” Hung said.
The system, which was built during President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) term as Taipei mayor, became a popular tourist attraction soon after operations began in July 2007, but it was shut down in October 2008 after the foundations of a support pillar were eroded following a typhoon.
The city government later relocated the problematic pillar, known as Tower No. 16, to a new location.
From next week the gondola will be open from 9am to 9pm from Tuesday to Thursday, 9am to 10pm on Friday, 8:30am to 10pm on Saturdays and from 8:30am to 9pm on Sundays. The gondola will be closed on Mondays for maintenance work.
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