Taipei’s Songjiang-Nanjing (松江南京) MRT station was opened for early guided tours yesterday after local media reported that the station is complicated and “maze-like.”
When the city’s new Songshan-Xindian Green Line opens within the next two weeks, the station is to become a transfer station between the new line and the older Zhonghe-Xinzhuang-Luzhou Orange Line.
Construction barriers were removed yesterday to allow visitors a closer look at the new station and the Songshan line trains, which arrived and opened their doors every few minutes.
While the station’s internal glass doors remained locked, some visitors were clearly confused, including an elderly man who was waiting on the Songshan level of the station for a train to the Xingtian Temple (行天宮) station on the Luzhou Line.
The Songjiang-Nanjing station’s Songshan level was opened early to give residents time to get used to its unique design, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said, adding that the new level has two platforms divided by the MRT tracks.
Touring city residents gave mixed reviews.
The station has “huge design errors” said one visitor, who wished only to be identified by the surname Lo (羅), adding that passengers who enter on the wrong side of the Songshan line would be forced to traverse different levels of the station to correct their mistake.
Another named Shih Yao-shu (施瑤書) said she appreciated the quality of the station’s wall art, but felt its layout was rather complicated.
While adding that clear signage could help prevent people getting lost, she said final judgement would have to wait until the new line begins operation.
In response, Taipei’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems said the station’s design was necessitated by space and budget limitations, as well as the large number of people expected to transfer between lines.
Once people get used to the two different platforms, they will be able to transfer more quickly than if only a single platform had been constructed, the department said.
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