Bannan line

The Bannan or Blue line (code BL) is a metro line in Taipei operated by Taipei Metro with a total of 23 stations serving the districts of Nangang, Xinyi, Daan, Zhongshan, Wanhua, Banqiao and Tucheng. The line's name is a portmanteau of Banqiao and Nangang.

Bannan line
Platform at Taipei Main Station
Overview
Other name(s)	Blue Line
Type	Rapid transit
Locale	Taipei, Taiwan
Termini	Dingpu, Far Eastern Hospital Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Kunyang
Stations	23
Operation
Opened	1999-12-24
Operator(s)	Taipei Rapid Transit System
Character	Underground
Depot(s)	Nangang Depot, Tucheng Depot
Rolling stock	Siemens Modular Metro (C321 and C341) 3 carriages per set, 2 sets per train
Technical
Line length	26.6 km (16.5 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	Third rail (750 volts DC)
Operating speed	80 km/h
Route map Other features Stations (  ) Nangang Exhib Center ( West coast line ) (  ) Nangang Nangang depot Kunyang Houshanpi (  ) Yongchun Taipei City Hall Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Zhongxiao Dunhua (  ) Zhongxiao Fuxing (  ) Zhongxiao Xinsheng Shandao Temple (  ) Taipei Main Station ( West Coast line )(  ) ( A ) (  ) Ximen Longshan Temple Wanhua Xindian River Taipei New Taipei City Jiangzicui (  ) Xinpu Minsheng Xinpu (  ) ( West Coast line ) (  ) Banqiao Fuzhong Far Eastern Hospital Tucheng depot Haishan Tucheng Yongning Dingpu

Bannan line
Traditional Chinese	板南線
Simplified Chinese	板南线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bǎnnán Xiàn
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	枋南線
Simplified Chinese	枋南线
Transcriptions Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Piông-nàm Sien
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	藍線
Simplified Chinese	蓝线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lán Xiàn Wade–Giles Lan^2 Hsien^4 Tongyong Pinyin Lán Siàn Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Làm Sien Southern Min Hokkien POJ Nâ Soàⁿ

A Bannan Line train pulling into Dingpu station

The entire line runs underground. The excavation of tunnels using the cut-and-cover method resulted in large scale detouring of road traffic. Because of that, the line runs beneath existing roads and totals 28.3 km (17.6 mi).

Overview

Service on this line is divided into a full-length service from Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center to Dingpu, as well as a shorter service from Kunyang to Far Eastern Hospital.

Due to Taipei City Hall being at the centre of the Taipei 101 New Year's festivities, intervals between trains can be reduced to a minimum of 135 seconds, transporting up to 39,000 passengers per hour.[1] This results in an average of about 27 trains per hour on the line during peak hours.

History

• 8 November 1990: The Nangang section begins construction.
• 30 December 1991: The Taipei Main Station western underground passageway opens.
• 24 December 1993: Nangang section construction at the intersection of Zhongxiao East Rd and Shaoxing Rd caves in, causes traffic jams.
• 30 October 1998: Construction is completed on the tunnel between Kunyang and Houshanpi.
• 24 December 1999: The segment from Taipei City Hall to Longshan Temple begins revenue service.
• 31 August 2000: The segment from Longshan Temple to Xinpu begins revenue service.
• 30 December 2000: The segment from Kunyang to Taipei City Hall begins revenue service.
• 17 September 2001: Typhoon Nari floods many stations, rendering them nonoperational.
• 29 November 2001: Taipei Main Station re-opens for service.
• 30 December 2003: The Nangang section eastern extension to Nangang begins construction.
• 17 November 2004: The Nangang section eastern extension to Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center begins construction.
• 27 May 2006: The segment from Banqiao to Tucheng opens for trial operations.
• 31 May 2006: The segment from Xinpu to Yongning begins revenue service.
• 16 May 2008: The Nangang section eastern extension to Nangang begins trial service.
• 25 December 2008: The Nangang section eastern extension to Nangang begins revenue service.
• February 27, 2011: The rest of the Nangang section eastern extension to Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center opened for service.[2]
• 21 May 2014: The 2014 Taipei Metro attack occurs between Longshan Temple and Jiangzicui when 21-year-old university student Cheng Chieh attacked passengers with a fruit knife, leading to 4 deaths and 24 injuries.
• 6 July 2015: The Tucheng Section extension to Dingpu Station begins revenue service, the final expansion of the line.
• 28 September 2018: Half-height platform edge doors are installed in Tucheng, making all stations on this line and entire Taipei Metro system have some form of platform doors.

Services

As of December 2017, the typical off-peak service is:

• 8 trains per hour (tph) between Far Eastern Hospital and Kunyang
• 7 tph between Dingpu and Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center

Stations

Services			Code	Image	English name	Chinese name	Districts	Travel time to previous station (s)[3]	Stop time at station (s)[3]	Date opened	Notes
Normal Services		Night Services
●			BL01		Dingpu	頂埔	Tucheng	n/a	n/a	2015-07-06
●			BL02		Yongning	永寧	Tucheng	180	25	2006-05-31
●			BL03		Tucheng	土城	Tucheng	95	25	2006-05-31
●			BL04		Haishan	海山	Tucheng	106	25	2006-05-31
●	●	●	BL05		Far Eastern Hospital	亞東醫院	Banqiao	142	25	2006-05-31	Some services terminate here
●	●	●	BL06		Fuzhong	府中	Banqiao	92	25	2006-05-31
●	●	●	BL07		Banqiao	板橋	Banqiao	89	25	2006-05-31	Change for Circular line (out-of-station), TRA, and THSR
●	●	●	BL08		Xinpu	新埔	Banqiao	102	30	2000-08-31	Change for Circular line (out-of-station)
●	●	●	BL09		Jiangzicui	江子翠	Banqiao	74	28	2000-08-31
●	●	●	BL10		Longshan Temple	龍山寺	Wanhua	190	28	1999-12-24
●	●	●	BL11		Ximen	西門	Zhongzheng, Wanhua	103	30	1999-12-24	Change for Songshan–Xindian line
●	●	●	BL12		Taipei Main Station	台北車站	Zhongzheng	132	40	1999-12-24	Change for Tamsui–Xinyi line, TRA, THSR, and Taoyuan Airport MRT
●	●	●	BL13		Shandao Temple	善導寺	Zhongzheng	64	30	1999-12-24
●	●	●	BL14		Zhongxiao Xinsheng	忠孝新生	Daan, Zhongzheng	76	28	1999-12-24	Change for Zhonghe–Xinlu line
●	●	●	BL15		Zhongxiao Fuxing	忠孝復興	Daan	84	40	1999-12-24	Change for Wenhu line
●	●	●	BL16		Zhongxiao Dunhua	忠孝敦化	Daan	63	28	1999-12-24
●	●	●	BL17		Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall	國父紀念館	Xinyi, Daan	67	28	1999-12-24
●	●	●	BL18		Taipei City Hall	市政府	Xinyi	72	28	1999-12-24
●	●	●	BL19		Yongchun	永春	Xinyi	82	25	2000-12-30
●	●	●	BL20		Houshanpi	後山埤	Nangang, Xinyi	73	25	2000-12-30
●	●	●	BL21		Kunyang	昆陽	Nangang	99	25	2000-12-30	Some services terminate here
●	●		BL22		Nangang	南港	Nangang	105	25	2008-12-25	Change for TRA and THSR
●	●		BL23		Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center	南港展覽館	Nangang	114	n/a	2011-02-27	Change for Wenhu line

References

1. "Taipei City promises faster New Year MRT". The China Post. 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
2. "MRT Nangang extension to start operations". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
3. "臺北捷運系統相鄰兩站間之行駛時間、停靠站時間 | 政府資料開放平臺". data.gov.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 4 October 2019.