As fewer passengers travel by Taipei's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the frequency of trains on four lines will be reduced on weekends beginning Saturday (April 11).
The average daily number of passenger rides for March amounted to 1.2 million, a drop of about 36 percent from the 1.9 million recorded for the same month last year, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) said Wednesday (April 8).
As a result, the company will reduce services on four lines, with intervals between the trains becoming longer, CNA reported. The lines affected will be the Tamsui-Xinyi, Bannan, Songshan-Xindian and Zhonghe-Xinlu lines.
On weekends, passengers at popular stations such as Tamsui and Taipei 101 will now have to wait nine minutes for a train, with passengers at the outer ends of the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line even worse off, as they will have to wait nine and a half minutes. At Daqiaotou and Nanshijiao, trains will leave every five minutes.
Trains on the Tamsui-Xinyi Line between Beitou and Daan will run at four-and-a-half-minute intervals between the other trains, with the same formula for the Bannan Line. The Songshan-Xindian Line will see a train every eight minutes, with trains between Songshan and Taipower running at five-minute intervals.
TRTC will not apply the reduced frequencies on weekdays and on the Wenhu and Circular lines, CNA reported.
Source：Taiwan News
