Life on the MRT 2017

Don’t you just hate it when people bring smelly food on the MRT?

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@Icon just wants a tall, dark and handsome Japanese man…wearing white gloves to shove her around.

Gosh, don’t we all.

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I’ll say it again: they should add lines in the urban core, basically parallel to the existing ones. Every time they extend the network outwards and/or discourage people from using surface transport, it adds more pressure on the center, and the high quality won’t last if it keeps up like that. :2cents:

Seoul and London are both building new deep bore commuter express rail services which run parallel to existing subway lines, but with longer stop spacing (~2-3km) in the urban core and much longer (~5km) in the suburbs.

The point of these lines is to do exactly what you’re saying: reduce pressure on the inner core subway services while also improving commute times for suburbanites. This is good for everyone.

London Crossrail: Crossrail - Wikipedia

Seoul GTX: First GTX line to fully open in 2023, construction to begin next year – Kojects

Taipei could do something similar. At first glance, a “TRX” Line 1 could run underground from Danshui to Xindian with stops in Beitou, Minquan West Road, Taipei Main Station, CKS Memorial Hall, somewhere in Yonghe, and Xindian. Ironically (but not in a bad way), this would be a sort of recreation of the old Xindian - Danshui TRA line which the MRT lines replaced. As Danshui densifies and grows in importance, I think ultimately something like this will be needed to get more people between Danshui and Taipei, faster.

East-West there is already the TRA line, which could get a major investment in new rolling stock & signalling and be rebranded as TRX 2. This line could have service frequency improved substantially (the local trains are already at crush load much of the time), better seating and lighting, and better stations (they’ve already done/are doing much of this work), all to improve it’s appeal over the MRT Blue Line.

Lastly, there are already plans that will reduce pressure on many of the current lines even without the far-fetched “TRX” idea I outlined above.

  • The Orange Line from Guting - Nanshijiao is often at crush load during rush hour, and Wanda-Shulin line will help with that in ~2020.
  • The Red Line north of Taipei Main is probably worst on the whole system for rush hour crush loads. If they’re ever built, Stage 2 of the Circle Line and the Shezi-Beitou LRTs will help with this. But admittedly, not as much as needed.
  • Entire Blue Line has capacity issues. Some thing the proposed Minsheng-Xizhi line would help with that… I have my doubts. The Green Line did help a bit when it opened. But the real answer for the Blue Line has to be higher frequency. Current peak frequency is 28 trains per hour, some systems such as Hong Kong MTR and London Underground have recently achieve 35 trains per hour, and 40 trains per hour is within reach in the next decade with ATC improvements. 40 trains per hour would be a 30% capacity increase for the Blue Line, with minimal investment (e.g. much much less than building an all new line).

But the real answer here is that Taipei MRT is crazily on top of things. You can gripe but it is objectively one of the best mass transit systems in the whole world. As Taipei residents we are damn lucky to have it. Trying living in a third world city like New York…

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He accompanies me every day:

20171206_140509

i can see it now… the new taipei high speed MRT system. danshui to taipei main station in 5 minutes. no more sitting(or standing) on the red like for an hour. but instead of taipei main station it actually only takes you to xinzhuang, to boost business and housing in the area.

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Daydreaming again?

Nope. MRT card. Mine. Very rare. I have both of his. :howyoudoin:

https://youtu.be/Hq5SiOly5nw

First test train on a short section of the Circle Line

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The Airport MRT line already has the circle line on the map near the entrance where you buy airport MRT tickets. Saw it the other day and wondered how I had been missing that.

I wonder who built these trains? It looks medium capacity (like the Wenhu Line)–but thankfully not designed like the horrible most recent generation of Wenhu Line trains, with their exceptionally idiotic bulky blue seats.

Guy

I can’t agree more. Nonetheless, I’m on the Wenhu line only a handful of times a year, but I still roll my eyes whenever I see them. Not a lot of standing room? Let’s create seats that will lessen the standing room!

Not bad suggestions but why should Taipei get so much more investment it already has 5x the others.

Its population is not growing. Taoyuan and Taichung are growing. They need investment more and they have more space to expand.

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I now realize why people wear masks on the MRT. Its because of the stinky breath which is especially offensive early morning. What are they eating at 7am that gives off this oder?

Nothing. It is what they are the night before.

Working late = midnight “snack”. Lots of stress, lots of stomach acid.

Ochre? Heard about that color before?

I think the airport line is a joke. If you don’t start at the main station you’re getting nowhere in time.

There is a connection in Sanzhong, where you need to wait for the commuter train up to 20-25 minutes or so, than you can change at the industry park or the hospital to get on the ‘airport express’. Completely useless. I wonder why they didn’t make the connecting in Sanzhong directly onto the airport express.

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I was reading on the Taipei MRT web site in English, then clicked a link to the New Taipei web site, duh, no English at all. It’s like there are no foreign users on that line.

Plus, if you connect at the Main station it takes about a ten minute walk to the airport line, imagine lugging some heavy suitcases. :tired_face:

2018 thread here: