Zhonghe–Xinlu line

The Zhonghe–Xinlu or Orange line (code O) is a metro line in Taipei operated by Taipei Metro, named after the districts it connects: Zhonghe, Xinzhuang and Luzhou. The line starts at Nanshijiao in Zhonghe, passes through central Taipei, then splits into two branches: one to Huilong in Xinzhuang, and one to Luzhou.

Zhonghe–Xinlu line
Daqiaotou station platform
Overview
Other name(s)	Orange line
Type	Rapid transit
Status	In service
Locale	Taipei and New Taipei, Taiwan
Termini	Luzhou, Huilong Nanshijiao
Stations	26
Services	Zhonghe Line, Xinzhuang Line, Luzhou Line
Operation
Opened	1998-12-24[lower-alpha 1]
Operator(s)	Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation
Rolling stock	Kawasaki C371 stock
Technical
Line length	29.3 km (18.2 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	Third rail (750 volts DC)
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Route map Xinzhuang depot (under construction?) ( Taoyuan Metro brown line to Taoyuan) ( Wanda–Zhonghe–Shulin line to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall) Huilong Danfeng Fu Jen University Xinzhuang ( Circular line ) Touqianzhuang Xianse Temple Erchong Floodway ( Taoyuan Airport MRT ) Sanchong Cailiao Taipei Bridge Luzhou Depot Luzhou ( New Taipei Metro Wugutaishan light rail ) Sanmin Senior High School St. Ignatius High School ( Circular line ) Sanhe Junior High School Sun Yat-sen Freeway Sanchong Elementary School Tamsui River Daqiaotou Minquan West Road ( Tamsui-Xinyi Line ) Zhongshan Elementary School Xingtian Temple Songjiang Nanjing ( Songshan-Xindian Line ) ( TRA West Coast Line ) ( THSR ) Zhongxiao Xinsheng ( Bannan Line ) (Tamsui-Xinyi Line to Xiangshan ) Dongmen ( Tamsui-Xinyi Line to Tamsui) ( Songshan-Xindian Line to Songshan) Guting (Songshan-Xindian Line to Xindian ) Xindian River Dingxi Yongan Market Jingan ( Circular line ) Zhonghe Depot Nanshijiao

Zhonghe–Xinlu line
Traditional Chinese	中和新蘆線
Simplified Chinese	中和新芦线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghé-Xīnlú Xiàn Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Chûng-fò–Sîn-lù Sien
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	橘線
Simplified Chinese	橘线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jú Xiàn

The southern section between Nanshijiao and Guting opened in 1998. Due to heavy traffic for residents in the districts of Luzhou and Sanchong travelling in and out of central Taipei, a metro line was planned to meet this urgent need.[1] The line would eventually consist of two branches which connects to Guting via central Taipei. The extension fully opened in 2012.

History

In June 1992, the construction of Zhonghe Line began. It was the most difficult and arduous one among all lines of Taipei metro. The tunnels running through Zhonghe-Yonghe area had to pass under narrow streets, skyscrapers and crowded blocks, with limited spaces for underground station above ground. As a result, the whole neighborhood traffic had its so-called "Dark Ages" when the cut-and-cover method was used for station platforms, concourses and crossovers during the 1990s. Besides the river-crossing section, the work suffered from biogas below the waterfront. After the construction, Zhonghe Line became more costly than all the other lines, 6,249 million NT dollars per kilometer.[2]

Since the line opened for service on 24 December 1998, it has been the most important access to downtown Taipei for nearly half a million of commuters who live in the district.

On 15 January 2011, Dongmen Station was still under construction while the track for the section from Zhongxiao Xinsheng to Guting (which passes through Dongmen Station) had already been laid.[3] At the time, Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation Vice Bureau Chief Chang Pei-yi noted that there was a possibility of opening the line for service while skipping both Dongmen and Guting stations, thus allowing for through service on the Orange Line.[3] However, this did not occur. The section opened for service on 30 September 2012 along with Dongmen Station.

On 18 December 2011, the 8.2 km (5.1 mi) Daqiaotou to Fu Jen University section passed final inspections by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.[4] It opened for service on 5 January 2012.[5] On its first full day of service, the line served 82,000 passengers.[6] The line is expected to serve 100,000 passengers daily.

As of April 2016, the Xinzhuang Depot was still under construction and expected to be finished in January 2018, completing the Xinzhuang Line.[7]

Although the line was called the Luzhou Branch Line during construction, the name was changed to simply the Luzhou Line before it opened for service.

• 2002: The Luzhou and Xinzhuang lines begin construction as part of Phase II development of the Taipei Metro.[8]
• September 2007: Track laying begins for the Luzhou Line.
• 25 September 2008: Since track laying has been completed for the Luzhou Line, tracks are laid for the segment of the Xinzhuang Line within Taipei.
• 1 April 2009: Train testing begins for the Luzhou Line and the segment of the Xinzhuang Line within Taipei.
• 22 August 2009: It is announced that although the line was to come into operation before the Spring Festival of 2010, due to malfunctions in the Neihu Line, service for the line would be pushed back to September 2010.[9]
• 24 April 2009: The Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) denies saying that the line would open before the Spring Festival in 2010. The Executive Yuan sets the line to begin service by 31 December 2010. DORTS says it will push forward with an anticipated September 2010 opening date.[10]
• 2 March 2010: DORTS says that the line is planned to open by 1 September 2010 in order to coincide with the Flora Expo. It will use the Taoyuan International Airport MRT's power as backup, so that by November 2010 the Xinzhuang Line can begin train testing through Touqianzhuang.[10]
• May 2010: Construction for Sanchong Elementary School, Sanhe Junior High School, Luzhou, and Luzhou Depot is completed. Construction for Sanmin Senior High School and St. Ignatius High School is finishing up.
• 30 June 2010: Construction finishes on all stations.
• July 2010: Train testing begins.
• September 4–5, 2010: The Luzhou Line and Xinzhuang Line city portion (to Zhongxiao Xinsheng) undergoes initial public testing.[11]
• 3 November 2010: The line opens for service with the opening of the Luzhou to Zhongxiao Xinsheng section.[12] A free trial period for the line ran until 2 December 2010.[8]
• 3 December 2010: The line began revenue service.[8]

Impact

Since its first three weeks after opening, the line (along with the Xinzhuang Line section) had reached a total ridership of over 3 million passengers, with an average of 157,000 passengers per day.[13] It is expected to cut travel time between Luzhou and Taipei by at least half,[14] with travel time between Luzhou and Taipei Main Station cut down to 17 minutes.[15] The system surpassed an annual ridership of 500 million for the first time on 29 December 2010, widely attributed to the opening of the new line.[16] The line has been effective in relieving congestion, with a 24% increase in average vehicle speed crossing Taipei Bridge (to Taipei) during rush hour since the opening of the line.[17] During the initial one-month trial, bus routes that ran parallel to the metro route experienced a 40% decrease in ridership, although bus ridership is expected to rise again after the end of the free trial.[18]

In anticipation of the opening of the new line, property prices along the route have risen by 36% since 2008.[19] Although small businesses along the line (most notably in Zhongshan and Datong, two older districts) have benefited from increased business during the free trial period, analysts noted that the initial business boon may only be short-lived and it may be years before these areas see real benefits as a result of the new line.[20]

Rolling stock

Over the years, three versions of rolling stock were used on this line, as well as on the through services between Nanshijiao and Beitou. Originally, the line used a large fleet of C301 train sets. In 1999, only a few C341 train sets were used. In 2007, some C371 train sets were introduced. Today, the entire fleet used on this line is the C371 train sets after the original C301 train sets were confined to the Tamsui and Xindian Lines upon the opening of Dongmen Station on 30 September 2012.

Services

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

• 7 trains per hour (tph) between Huilong and Nanshijiao
• 7 tph between Luzhou and Nanshijiao

Stations

Code	Image	English name	Chinese name	Districts	Branch	Travel time to previous station (s)[21]	Stop time at station (s)[21]	Date opened	Notes
O01		Nanshijiao	南勢角	Zhonghe	Main	n/a	n/a	1998-12-24
O02		Jingan	景安	Zhonghe	Main	103	25	1998-12-24	Change for Circular line
O03		Yongan Market	永安市場	Yonghe, Zhonghe	Main	88	25	1998-12-24
O04		Dingxi	頂溪	Yonghe	Main	100	25	1998-12-24
O05		Guting	古亭	Daan, Zhongzheng	Main	187	40	1998-12-24	Change for Songshan–Xindian line
O06		Dongmen	東門	Daan, Zhongzheng	Main	192	35	2012-09-30	Change for Tamsui–Xinyi line
O07		Zhongxiao Xinsheng	忠孝新生	Daan, Zhongzheng	Main	118	35	2010-11-03	Change for Bannan line
O08		Songjiang Nanjing	松江南京	Zhongshan	Main	114	35	2010-11-03	Change for Songshan–Xindian line
O09		Xingtian Temple	行天宮	Zhongshan	Main	75	35	2010-11-03
O10		Zhongshan Elementary School	中山國小	Zhongshan	Main	89	35	2010-11-03
O11		Minquan West Road	民權西路	Datong, Zhongshan	Main	72	45	2010-11-03	Change for Tamsui–Xinyi line
O12		Daqiaotou	大橋頭	Datong	Main	75	35	2010-11-03
O13		Taipei Bridge	台北橋	Sanchong	Huilong[lower-alpha 2]	115	25	2012-01-05
O14		Cailiao	菜寮	Sanchong	Huilong	93	25	2012-01-05
O15		Sanchong	三重	Sanchong	Huilong	84	25	2012-01-05	Change for Taoyuan Airport MRT
O16		Xianse Temple	先嗇宮	Sanchong	Huilong	142	25	2012-01-05
O17		Touqianzhuang	頭前庄	Xinzhuang	Huilong	105	25	2012-01-05	Change for Circular line
O18		Xinzhuang	新莊	Xinzhuang	Huilong	93	25	2012-01-05
O19		Fu Jen University	輔大	Xinzhuang	Huilong	130	25	2012-01-05
O20		Danfeng	丹鳳	Xinzhuang, Taishan	Huilong	110	25	2013-06-29
O21		Huilong	迴龍	Guishan, Xinzhuang	Huilong	159	n/a	2013-06-29	Terminus of Huilong branch
O50		Sanchong Elementary School	三重國小	Sanchong	Luzhou	148[lower-alpha 3]	30	2010-11-03	Connects to Daqiaotou
O51		Sanhe Junior High School	三和國中	Sanchong	Luzhou	104	30	2010-11-03
O52		St Ignatius High School	徐匯中學	Luzhou	Luzhou	82	30	2010-11-03
O53		Sanmin Senior High School	三民高中	Luzhou	Luzhou	87	30	2010-11-03
O54		Luzhou	蘆洲	Luzhou	Luzhou	110	n/a	2010-11-03

Notes

1. Current form opened on 5 January 2012
2. known as Xinzhuang line by DORTS
3. to Daqiaotou

References

1. "Introduction to the MRT Luzhou Line". Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
2. 《都市捷運：規劃與設計（下）》，張志榮著
3. "捷運趕通車 蘆洲線擬跳東門接古亭". The Liberty Times. 2011-01-15. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
4. "MRT Xinzhuang line passes final inspection despite minor flaws". Taiwan News. 2011-12-18. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
5. "MRT Xinzhuang line begins commercial service". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
6. "新莊線通車首日旅運8.2萬人次 整體營運順利". 中國廣播公司. 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
7. "Network: Second Stage". Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government. 2015-07-09. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
8. "Taipei MRT's Luzhou Line to start operations Wednesday afternoon". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
9. "捷運蘆洲支線 延明年9月通車－聯合新聞網". Retrieved 8 February 2009.
10. "北捷蘆洲支線9月通車 新莊線試駛頭前庄站(2010.03.02)". Retrieved 2 March 2010.
11. "捷運蘆洲支線9月3和4日初勘 台北市政府捷運工程局". Retrieved 2010-09-03.
12. "MRT Luzhou line to open Nov. 3". Taipei Times. 2010-10-28. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
13. "蘆洲線試乘 已逾305萬人次". UDN. 2010-11-25. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
14. "President offers congratulations on opening of MRT Luzhou Line". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
15. "捷運系統蘆洲線簡介" (PDF). Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government. 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
16. "Record breaking year for Taipei's MRT network". The China Post. 2010-12-30. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
17. 張家嘯 (2010-11-26). "蘆洲線試乘破305萬　橘色路線圖沒標錯". CardU 焦點新聞. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
18. "蘆洲線捷運搶客 公車載量掉四成". The Liberty Times. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
19. "Luzhou Line property value rises through the roof". The China Post. 2010-09-03. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
20. "Luzhou Line boom may be short-lived: vendors". Taipei Times. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
21. "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.