The Taipei MRT system’s new Xinyi Line — the city’s second east-to-west route after the Bannan Line — was set to begin operations this morning following eight years of construction. The service will be free of charge for EasyCard holders until Dec. 23.
The 6.5km-long line, which includes seven stations: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dongmen, Daan Park, Daan Station, Xinyi Anhe, Taipei 101-World Trade Center and Elephant Mountain, integrates with the Tamsui Line and allows passengers to travel directly between Beitou and Elephant Mountain stations in about 35 minutes.
Passengers who use an EasyCard will also get a 30 percent discount when traveling between the Chungho Line and part of the Tamshui Line between National Taiwan University Hospital Station and Beitou Station.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
With a total budget of NT$39 billion (US$1.3 billion), the Xinyi Line is the second-most expensive MRT line in Taipei following the Chungho Line.
The completion of the line is hoped to ease traffic congestion on Xinyi Road, and the city expects MRT ridership to reach 1.9 million per day with the line in operation.
The new line is expected to ease the flow of passengers on the Nankang Line by about 11 percent and reduce passenger flow at Taipei Main Station by about 19 percent.
In celebration of the completion of the line, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday took a ride from Daan Park Station to Elephant Mountain Station to experience the service before its official launch.
Ma, who oversaw the construction of the line during his term as Taipei mayor, said the city has an ongoing policy for expansion of the MRT network, and every mayor has made efforts to contribute to it. He expressed his gratitude to Taipei citizens who have tolerated traffic congestion during the construction work and expected more MRT lines to be launched to increase the city’s public transportation coverage.
“I feel like an old solider who has returned home after being away for years and I am excited to witness the city’s achievement,” he said.
Hau said the city plans to open the MRT Songshan Line next year, and to begin construction on more MRT lines, including the MRT Minsheng-Xizhi Line and the MRT Wanda Line.
Taipei City’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems created different artistic themes for the seven stations on the Xinyi Line. For example, the Daan Park Station is a green building with an open garden inside the station featuring fountains, trees and artwork from the public.
The line was to dispatch its first train at 6am today. Music performances and other celebration activities are scheduled to be held at Daan Park Station throughout the day.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard