The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations.
Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文).
Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship.
Photo: Chen I-kuan, Taipei Times
Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome.
There are three shuttle buses in the area heading toward MRT stations that run from midnight to 1:30am.
The first leaves from the Renai Road and Yanji Street intersection, heading toward Taipei Railway Station.
Photo: Humans of Taipei Facebook
The second leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Wenchang Street intersection next to Keelung Road Sec 2, heading toward Gongguan Station.
The third leaves from the Songde Road and Xinyi Road Sec 6 intersection, heading toward Jingmei and Muzha stations.
There is one more shuttle bus running from midnight to 2am that leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Zhongxiao E Road intersection, heading toward Nanjing Sanmin Station.
The Taipei MRT runs for 24 hours on New Year’s Day, except for the Xiaobitan and Xinbeitou lines, which close at midnight.
As most people took the Blue and Red lines in previous years, it is recommended to walk or take a shuttle bus to Nanjing Sanmin or Taipei Arena stations to take the Green Line.
Catching the Green Line from either of those stations is free from midnight to 6am.
The Taoyuan MRT is to run for 41 consecutive hours from 6am today to 11pm tomorrow.
Starting from 5pm today, 33 YouBike stations in the Xinyi area are to be closed, with 22 more stations closing at 7pm.
The stations open again at 3am.
Taipei police will also take measures to control traffic flows in Xinyi District (信義) this evening.
A three-phase traffic control plan is to be implemented in Xinyi between 7pm and 3am, the Taipei Police Department's Traffic Division said, as it urged motorists to take note of the restrictions.
In Phase 1 from 7pm to 8pm, the controlled area includes west of Songren Road, south of Zhongxiao E Road, north of Xinyi Road, and east of Keelung Road and Yixian Road.
Vehicles within the controlled area are allowed to exit, but not enter.
In Phase 2 from 8pm to 10pm, the controlled zone is to expand to the west to Guangfu S Road.
Vehicles are prohibited from entering or exiting the controlled area.
The Keelung Road underground passage will also be closed.
from 10pm to 3am, the controlled area includes east of Guangfu S Road, south of Zhongxiao E Road, north of Xinyi Road and Zhuangjing Road, and west of Lane 236 of Zhongxiao E Road Sec 5, Songde Road and Songren Road.
No vehicles are allowed to enter or exit the controlled area, and adjustments to the controlled zones would be made flexibly based on crowd conditions.
Separately, New Taipei City is hosting a New Year’s Eve firework display tonight at 8:25pm over the Tamsui River (淡水河).
There are also festivities along Bali District’s (八里) left bank waterfront starting at 3pm, including performances and markets.
The Bali District Office recommended several places for viewing the fireworks, including the Bali Left Bank; Shuixinggong (水興公), Shuibizi (水筆仔) and Shihsanhang (十三行) parks; and Beidi Beach (北堤沙灘).
Additional reporting by Lo Kuo-chia
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