Fares for the highly anticipated metro line that connects downtown Taipei and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the nation’s main international gateway, have been set at a maximum of NT$160, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said on Friday.
A ride between Taipei Main Station and Huanbei Station in Taoyuan, the last stop on the newly built line, is to cost NT$160, Cheng said.
That would also be the price for rides between Taipei Main Station and the airport’s first or second terminals, according to fares published by the Taoyuan Metro Corp, which is to manage and operate the 51km line that runs through three northern metropolitan areas — Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan.
The minimum fare was set at NT$30, the company said, adding that fares were based on a formula laid out in the Mass Rapid Transit Act (大眾捷運法).
Fares were not calculated based on operating costs, because that would have put the price of a ticket between Taipei and the airport at NT$270, which is “far more than what people can afford,” the company said
Fares on the new line should be higher than that of buses, usually about NT$125, but cheaper than taking a high-speed train to Taoyuan, which is also NT$160, but does not include a NT$30 shuttle bus between the airport and Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station.
The fares were opposed by New Taipei City Transportation Department Commissioner Wang Sheng-wei (王聲威), who argued that the price should be aligned with Taipei MRT fares and that ticketing for the two systems should be integrated.
Rides between Taipei Main Station and Linkou Station cost NT$100, NT$57 more than taking a bus and NT$50 more than the price for a ride between Taipei Main Station and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), a similar distance, Wang said.
Construction of the airport metro line began in 2006, and the system was originally scheduled to open in 2010. The launch date has been delayed six times, mainly because of engineering and power-related issues.
On Friday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Bureau of High Speed Rail said all of the line’s systems had passed required tests and had been verified by independent organizations.
The line is now ready for an initial inspection and testing by a group of 18 experts and academics invited by the bureau, it said, adding that the inspection is scheduled for today.
The ministry had on previous occasions said the airport MRT line would be inaugurated in February or March.
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