The MRT Luzhou (Lujhou) Line connecting Taipei County’s Lujhou (蘆洲) and Sanchong (三重) cities with Taipei City began service operations yesterday, attracting a large crowd to take advantage of the free trial service that lasts for one month.
Thousands of passengers rushed to experience the line on the first day of service when it opened at 2pm, crowding especially around Luzhou Station and the two transfer stations on that line — Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Minquan W Road stations.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Finally, residents in Lujhou and Sanchong can enjoy the convenience of the MRT. I am so excited about being able to take the MRT to work now,” 30-year-old Sanchong resident Chang Li-fang (張莉芳) said after taking a ride from Luzhou to Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
The one-month free trial run, however, sparked confusion as some passengers complained about having to pay for their rides.
“Isn’t the service free? My EasyCard was still charged NT$20,” said 33-year-old Taipei resident Chiu Yun-hsin (邱雲欣), who transferred at Minquan W Road and Zhongxiao Xinsheng stations to reach Zhongxiao Fuxing from Yuanshan Station.
Yang Tai-liang (楊泰良), director of Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation’s (TRTC) station affairs, said the free service would be limited to the Luzhou line. EasyCard holders who transfer to other lines will be charged for the rest of the ride.
Some passengers also complained about the cramped space at Minquan W Road Station and Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station.
With the special municipality elections drawing closer, the launch ceremony was packed with politicians, with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), joined by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), using the occasion to endorse Hau’s municipal performance.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who once served as chairman of the TRTC, led a group of DPP Taipei City councilors to attend the ceremony.
Ma, a former Taipei mayor, lauded Hau for continuing the city’s cooperation with Taipei County that began under his administration to extend the MRT lines and work on other municipal projects.
Yu, on the other hand, slammed the city government for taking nine years to finish construction of the line.
Brushing aside DPP criticism over Hau’s rushing the operation date and offering the free trial-run to garner support for his re-election, Ma urged all politicians to work together to improve the nation.
Connecting the opening of the line to the Taipei International Flora Expo, which officially opens on Saturday, Hau encouraged visitors to the expo to use the MRT and promised to raise the city’s competitiveness.
Construction on the line began in 2002 and it includes 11 stations. It will take about 19 minutes to get from Luzhou to Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station and about 21 minutes from Luzhou to Taipei Main Station, transfer time not included.
TRTC general manager Tsai Huei-sheng (蔡輝昇) said more than 200,000 commuters are expected to use the line each day and annual MRT ridership is expected to reach 500 million next year.
Service on the line will be free until Dec. 2, a move that has been criticized by some as a gambit to garner support for Hau in the Nov. 27 election.
Before the line’s launch ceremony, about 20 activists from the Losheng Youth Alliance threw mud outside Daqiaotou Station as they protested against construction of the MRT Xinzhuang (Sinjhuang) Line’s maintenance depot, which they said had caused cracks to develop at the Losheng Sanatorium’s residential buildings.
The group urged the Taipei City Government not to forget about this issue as well as to suspend the construction of the depot until a geographic report is conducted.
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