An extension of Taipei MRT’s Nangang Line connecting Nangang Station with the Wenshan-Neihu Line’s Nangang Exhibition Center Station will formally open to passengers on Sunday afternoon. An official opening ceremony will be held in the morning, and the service will formally start at 2pm, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.
“The operation of the extension will push forward the completion of the MRT service in Taipei and make the lives of residents more convenient,” he said.
The extension, which is about 1km long, lengthens the MRT Nangang Line along Zhongxiao E Road and includes two stations — Nangang Station and Nangang Exhibition Center Station. Nangang Station went into service in 2008.
Passengers will no longer be required to take a shuttle bus between the two stations. The extension line was scheduled to launch in December, but the deadline was pushed back as a result of construction delays.
Responding to questions about the delay, the city’s -Department of Rapid Transit Systems defended its efforts, saying that operational safety and construction quality have always been the No. 1 concern.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the extension’s operation after conducting two large-scale inspections.
“There is no schedule for trial runs, and we will not rush the construction and inspection process,” Hau said.
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