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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS