Premier Chen Chien-jen (fourth left), Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (third left) and Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang give a thubm up when attending a ceremony held for the opening of a new Taoyuan Metro Station on Monday. CNA photo July 31, 2023
Taoyuan, July 31 (CNA) An extended section of the Taoyuan Airport MRT line in Taoyuan began commercial operations on Monday, with Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) touting the underground extension as proof of advanced railway construction techniques mastered by Taiwan.
At a ceremony marking the inauguration, Chen said "it was quite challenging" to construct the 800-meter extension which runs into the heart of Zhongli District in Taoyuan, referring to construction work that that took place more than 20 meters deep underground.
The newly completed extension connects Huanbei Station (A21) and the new underground Laojie River Station (A22) to the south.
The new station is part of a NT$17.3 billion (US$549 million) extension project that started in 2020 to add two underground stops to the existing 51.03-kilometer line, which connects Taiwan's main international gateway with the Greater Taipei area, according to the Railway Bureau.
Construction of the terminal station, Zhongli Railway Station, is underway and expected to be completed in July 2028, when metro passengers will be able to transfer there to Taiwan Railways Administration Zhongli Station.
The bureau said in a statement that the newly-built extended section passed all safety tests earlier this year and received an operating permit from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on July 7.
The new section is expected to handle 143 commuter trains services a day, the bureau added.
Journeys between A21 and A22 will be free of charge until Aug. 31 for passengers who use electronic stored-value cards such as EasyCards, Tpasses, iPASSes, and iCASH cards, while credit card payments and other electronic payment system are also compatible, according to the bureau.
Moreover, those who use the same payment methods to buy a seven-day pass which begins or ends at the A22 station will also benefit from a 50-percent discount, replacing the original 25-percent discount offer, the bureau said, noting that the preferential discount will only be effective until Aug. 31.
more OCAC News, welcome to
OCACNEWS.NET.
