Construction on the Taipei section of the Mass Rapid Transit System’s (MRT) Wanda line is to begin today and is expected to be completed in 2025, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said on Friday.
The Taipei City Government is to hold a ceremony today to pray for a smooth construction process, the department said.
Construction is comprised of two phases.
The first phase aims to build a 9.5km line from Taipei to New Taipei City.
The Taipei section is to be 3.8km long, while the New Taipei City section will be 5.7km long.
Construction of the New Taipei City portion started in December 2015. There are to be nine stations in the Taipei section.
Once completed, the first phase of the new line, starting from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station, is to link Heping W Road to Xizang Road and Wanda Road and go underwater through a tunnel to be built in the Sindian River (新店溪) before arriving in New Taipei City.
The new line will be critical to the development of Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), officials said.
Passengers would be able to transfer at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to go to Tamsui Station in the city’s north, to Xindian Station in the south, or to Songshan Station and the World Trade Center Station in the east, the department said.
The second phase involves constructing a 13.3km line in New Taipei City, that is to have 13 stations.
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