Neihu MRT to Keelung? I think its a great idea : from todays TaipeiTimes
POLITICS
Ma promises MRT to Keelung
During a stopover in Keelung on his campaign trail yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Ma Ying-jeou (馬č±ä¹) said that if elected, he would expand the Neihu MRT line all the way to the harbor city. He also vowed to boost Keelungās economy by opening up direct links with China and open up tourism to Chinese tourists. āAs your next president, I will increase the business opportunities at Keelung Harbor. I will also strengthen local tourism. My victory will be Keelungās prosperity,ā Ma said to a group of supporters. In a meeting with the media, Ma said that in the next five to 10 years, Keelung Harbor would play a vital role as a cargo transportation hub connecting both sides of the strait. The harbor should also play a strong role in attracting Chinese tourists, he said. Ma said expanding the Neihu MRT line to Keelung would connect the city to the science park chain that includes the Nangang Science Park and the Neihu Science Park.
A great idea? I read the same story earlier and thought it was pure campaign pork-barrel bullshit on Maās part. The MRT is meant for urban areas with high population densities, which doesnāt exactly fit the description of the area between Nangang and Jilong. A full MRT train probably has more people than lots of those little towns in between.
And, anyway, Nangang and Jilong are already connected ā by the regular train line.
Why would they? The train already goes to Keelung ā¦ they could increase frequency on them first before investing in another system ā¦ would almost be the same as building an MRT line to Ingge ā¦
Itās totally ridiculous ā¦ promising ā¦ again another of Maās empty promises ā¦
[quote=ācranky laowaiā]A great idea? I read the same story earlier and thought it was pure campaign pork-barrel bullshit on Maās part. The MRT is meant for urban areas with high population densities, which doesnāt exactly fit the description of the area between Nangang and Jilong. A full MRT train probably has more people than lots of those little towns in between.
And, anyway, Nangang and Jilong are already connected ā by the regular train line.[/quote]
i tend to disagree, this is light rail being discussed, like the mucha line. i think the idea has merit.
There was a time when I didnt have a car and had to take the bus to jilong and then transfer to another bus to wanli. And let me tell you. The express bus to jilong (dang I just cant spell it as jilong) was every 2 or 3 minutes and it was packed. There is simply A LOT of people commuting between Jilong and Taipei. YOu just have NO IDEA.
The regular trains are way too slow. They have the tienche between Jilong and Taipei, but theres not enough of them to rely on and they make stops. The express bus made no stops until it arrived at its first taipei stop. There were 2 stops before the main taipei station if memory serves me.
The neihu light rail system would be very well used if it went to keelung.
The real worry is whether its just campaign horse manure.
This is precisly what it is. What few people here realise including the locals is that current regulations here in Taiwan forbid the trans shipping of cargo, never mind that nothing is set up for it. Unless these regs are changed then Maās comments about making it a local hub and just empty rhetoric
That light rail is part of the MRT system, but I am not particular fond of the brown line technolgy (small and only few cars per train). Thus I would favor an extention of the Nangan line, or a new spur line or something like that.
That light rail is part of the MRT system, but I am not particular fond of the brown line technolgy (small and only few cars per train). Thus I would favor an extention of the Nangan line, or a new spur line or something like that.[/quote]
I tend to think you are right. The light rail may become a shortsighted solution. The main MRT LINE extension would make more sense.
p.s. we are not talking about moving cargo. just people.
The existing rail tracks have to carry freight and cargo for the entire East Taiwan lines from Patu to TAipei. Keelung to Patu is only about five mins train journey. Plus the signal system is relatively archaic and would completely have to be replaced in order to accomodate closer separation of trains. An MRT system is heavily controlled. In fact all trains are computer driven. The main rail line from Patu to Taipei is driver driven and not computer driven.
It may cost a billion dollars to upgrade the existing railway to the standards required for high capacity transit. It may cost 3 billion to extend the MRT to Keelung. But Taiwan has the money. I would say the most farsighted approach is to extend the main MRT to Keelung. But at least the Neihu light rail system if that were to be say 1/3 the cost.
Seems at least half the population of Keelung works in TAipei. Thats a lot of people.
a nankang line extension would probably be overkill considering the light population between the two cities. the best solution might be āBus Rapid Transitā style dedicated bus lanes connecting to the nankang line terminus.
However, the existence of MRT stations would certainly bode well for development. Taipei needs to expand and why not cover some of the areas between keelung and taipei?
