The Sanying MRT Line, which would connect New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) with Yingge District (鶯歌) via Sanxia District (三峽), is to open to the public in March next year, the city government said on Wednesday.
The subway line is a 14.29km medium-capacity system with 12 stations designed to cut commute times and boost development in New Taipei City’s southwestern districts, according to the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems Web site.
According to the department, the new line would strengthen integration across the four northern municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems
Department head Lee Cheng-an (李政安) said the Sanying Line is undergoing a series of tests, including factory, installation, dynamic and integration phases.
Noise insulation and reduction measures have progressed, with “substantial completion” expected in December, he said.
New Taipei City Transportation Department Director-General Chung Ming-shih (鍾鳴時) said the city would next month begin planning shuttle connection routes, improved pedestrian walkways, and traffic and parking logistics.
Shuttle connections and improved pedestrian pathways would enable riders to navigate the system more easily, the New Taipei City Government said on Wednesday.
In a report delivered at a New Taipei City Government meeting on Wednesday, the department said it had reopened bidding for the CQ880B contract on the Tucheng-Shulin Line.
The contract covers civil engineering, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing work on the Tucheng elevated section, and was reissued after receiving no bids during its previous round on Feb. 27, despite a budget of more than NT$11.8 billion (US$405 million), the department said.
The New Taipei City Government took over the project from the Taipei City Government in April and relaunched the tender following a review.
The Sanying Line was approved by the Cabinet in 2015, and construction began in July 2016.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates