Taoyuan Metro Corp is aiming to balance the budget for the operation of the Taoyuan International Airport MRT line within six years, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday, adding that the metro firm had experienced an additional financial loss due to the delayed launch of the airport MRT system.
The MRT corporation has been receiving revenue since the airport MRT system began operations three months ago, Cheng said, adding that the system has an average of 56,000 passengers per day, which is more than expected.
The financial status of the airport MRT system operator has been under public scrutiny since the company reported accumulating financial losses of almost NT$1.8 billion (US$60 million) since its establishment in 2010 only three months into the operation of the airport MRT line.
Several Taoyuan city councilors have proposed measures to boost the system’s ridership to reduce losses, including lowering ticket prices and asking international travelers to pay higher fares.
On his Facebook page, National Taiwan University law professor Lee Mau-sheng (李茂生) pointed to a lack of passengers using the smaller stations along the airport MRT line.
The government built these small stations to stimulate housing development in less-developed areas along the line, so they cannot be expected to draw a lot of passengers to the system, Lee said.
Cheng said it was normal that the small stations in the airport MRT system have fewer passengers than those in the Taipei Railway Station or Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The central and local governments have failed to enforce urban development plans in some of the areas where small MRT stations are located, including around Shanbi (山鼻), Kengko (坑口), Dayuan (大園), Hengshan (橫山) and Singnan (新南) stations, Cheng said.
The failure was either due to local governments not working hard enough or the central government’s delay in reviewing the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project, he added.
The Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project is a flagship urban planning program for the development of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and surrounding properties that was heavily promoted by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government.
Cheng said people should not blame the lack of passengers solely on Taoyuan Metro.
He added that no country around the world sets different metro fares for domestic passengers and foreigners.
“It’s normal for an MRT system to be in the red financially in the first three months of its operation, and three months is too short a time to make a definite judgement,” he said.
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