Taichung has officially entered the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) age with the city’s Green Line beginning full service at noon yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.
Tsai in an address said that Taichung residents were witnessing history in the making, as the metropolitan rail system has been a dream of local residents for more than 30 years.
“The official beginning of service on the Green Line shows that collaboration between the central and local governments can get things done,” she said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The Green Line would be extended to Taichung’s Dakeng (大坑) and nearby Changhua County, and a second line, called the Blue Line, is also being planned as part of a broader project to enhance public transportation in central Taiwan, Tsai added.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) lauded the city as having the first MRT system south of Taoyuan and north of Kaohsiung.
The system marks a new era of public transport for Taichung and central Taiwan as a whole, Lu said.
Photo: CNA
She pledged that her government would continue to focus on safety as the top priority for the city’s MRT system.
People who rode the Taichung MRT on its first day of operations expressed satisfaction with the service.
A woman surnamed Chien (簡) traveling to the National Taichung Theater said that taking the Green Line saved her a lot of time and money, as she would have otherwise taken a bus or taxi.
A man surnamed Hsu (徐) said that people with the Senior EasyCard qualify for a 50 percent discount on ticket prices, and he and his wife plan to use the MRT service regularly.
The basic fare on the Green Line is NT$20 (US$0.71), with the fare increasing NT$5 for every 2km traveled, up to a maximum of NT$50, Taichung MRT Corp has said.
There are 18 stations along the 16.71km line from Beitun Main Station in the northeast to Taichung High Speed Rail Station in the southwest. A full journey takes about 32 minutes.
Construction of the line began in 2009 under then-Taichung mayor Jason Hu’s (胡志強) administration. The project cost NT$59.3 billion, NT$32.8 billion of which was provided by the central government.
The beginning of commercial services was originally scheduled for Dec. 19 last year, but was postponed due to mechanical problems.
Initial test runs were suspended six days after they began on Nov. 16 when it was found that the couplings between the carriages had not been installed properly.
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