Locale Taichung & Changhua Number of lines 1 | Transit type Rapid transit Number of stations 9 | |
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Began operation 27 July 2014 (BRT)
16 October 2016 (Red Line) Operator(s) Taichung Mass Rapid Transit System Co.
Taiwan Railways Administration (Red Line) | ||
The Taichung Metro (also called Taichung Mass Rail Transit or Taichung MRT) is a rapid transit system currently being constructed by the city government of Taichung, Taiwan. In addition to Taichung, it may serve Changhua and Nantou counties.
Contents
History
Planning of the Taichung MRT started in 1990 with a study conducted by the Taiwanese Bureau of Housing and Urban Development. The study was completed in 1998 and suggested the implementation of three routes (Red, Green, and Blue). The project was formally approved by the Executive Yuan of the ROC government on November 23, 2004. The city government signed a joint development contract with the Taipei City Government on December 12, 2007.
Meanwhile, the Taichung City Government started their own planning of more lines and decided that the much cheaper BRT system would be the future of mass transit in Taichung. Since the corridor of the originally proposed Red Line is partially served by the TRA mass transit construction, the Blue Line corridor was chosen as a first step to implement BRT in Taichung.
Construction of the first line, the Green Line, had been paid for and was expected to begin in October 2007, though it was pushed back and started construction on October 8, 2009. The 16.7 km (10.4 mi) section of the Green Line is now scheduled for completion by 2018 and will include 15 stations.
On March 9, 2011, Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced that it had won a joint order with Alstom Transport SA (France) and CTCI Corp. (Taiwan) to supply 36 units consisting of two-car, driverless trains totaling 29.5 billion yen. While Kawasaki will oversee construction, Alstom will focus on signaling and CTCI will supply the electrical system.
Red Line
As part of the improvement of the Western Line the Taiwan Railway Administration is currently replacing the entire railway between Fengyuan and Daqing (including all track in Taichung City) with an elevated railroad and additional upgrades to Changhua. In the course of this project, more stops for local trains are created. This line will be known as the MRT Red Line, and it was opened in October 16, 2016.
On the resulting infrastructure, new EMUs will be run more frequently than before, yielding a service that supplements mass transit for the greater Taichung area.
Blue Line
The Taichung City Government [1] cites LRT being five times cheaper to build than MRT, and BRT in turn being five times cheaper than LRT. For this reason, the first MRT line in Taichung is being built as an elevated line (as opposed to underground), and future lines are planned to be built as BRT with the possibility of later upgrading to grade-separated modes of transit. The system began its operation in 2014, between Providence University and the Taichung Railway Station. It ran along the busy Taiwan Boulevard, on a designated lane made specifically for BRT. Bus stations were built on the divider between the fast and slow lanes on the road. It was the first articulated bus system in Taiwan. The service ended on July 8, 2015 due to the new policy announced by Mayor Lin Chia-lung on March 30, 2015. The designated BRT Lane was changed to an ordinary bus lane, allowing other buses that operate primarily on Taiwan Boulevard to use the lane. The articulated buses that originally ran the route became known as bus route 300.
A MRT line running on the same route as the BRT line is currently being planned.
Future expansion
The BRT Blue Line has been completed and began operations in July 2014. It ran between Providence University and Taichung Railway Station. However, it was shut down in July 2015, following a year of operation by an executive decision made by Mayor Lin Chia-Lung. Currently it is a designated bus lane for multiple routes. A MRT system running the same route is currently being planned.
The TRA Red Line is a railway owned by the TRA that will be considered as part of the Mass Rapid Transit system. The railway segment between Fengyuan and Wuri will be elevated, and six new stations will be added. The line is scheduled to open in 2016.
The MRT Wuri — Beitun Line (Green Line) is currently under construction as a grade-separated heavy rail line, with completion scheduled for 2018. The line runs between Wuri and Beitun districts, passing through Nantun and Xitun districts. The planned total cost for the project is NT$51.39 billion (including land acquisition costs), which is split between the local and central government.
The LRT Orange line is currently being planned, after several rejections from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to build a MRT or BRT system.
Green Line
The Green Line is currently being constructed as an elevated railway with driverless electric trains. It will be about 16.5 km (10.3 mi) long. Original plans included 15 stations and a depot, but because of pressure from the Taichung City Government the station count was increased to 18. It will stretch from Songzhu Road in Beitun District of Taichung along Beitun Road, Wenxin Road, and Wenxin South Road to the High Speed Rail Station in the Wuri District. It is expected to cost NT$53,491,000,000, and will be built by the Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems.
Orange Line
A fourth line was planned in 2009 to connect the city with Taichung Airport. However, after multiple proposals to build a MRT and BRT line were rejected by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the city government turned to a LRT system. The system is still being planned.