The original one-way escalator at MRT Tamsui -Xinyi line’s Taipei Main Station (M1) entrance/exit has been upgraded to a two-way escalator and reopened for use from January 20 in order to provide the public with more convenient and friendly MRT services.
In order to provide a higher-quality and more intimate riding environment and in response to an aging society, Taipei DORTS proposed an improvement plan aimed at the entrances/exits of each station in the route network of the initial stage of operations with the objective that “station entrances/exits should meet the requirement of having at least one entrance/exit on each side of the road with two-way escalators or elevators installed.”
Because Taipei MRT has a daily ridership of nearly 2 million passengers, the temporary closure of station entrances/exits is a major inconvenience for commuters. Nevertheless, DORTS pointed out that escalator improvements are unlike general MRT projects, and the overall process is very cumbersome and time-consuming.
In addition to removing existing escalators, the knocking out the stairs, and knocking out the escalator pits, the new escalators must be subsequently installed and tested, and these tasks can only be done outside of limited spaces.
In order to ensure normal operations and in response to the structure of the original MRT entrances/exits, and the completion of some tasks being dependent on human labor or limited to being undertaken after the MRT closes at night or before hours of operation, the degree of difficulty is higher than for new construction projects.
Taipei DORTS emphasized that in order to take travel requirements and operational safety into account and as a result of being subjected to the limitation that 2 entrances/exits cannot be simultaneously closed at the same MRT line stations and the project having to be carried out in phases, and the construction period is longer; therefore, DORTS thanked the public for their patience.
MRT initial network escalator/elevator mid-term improvement construction is expected to be fully completed in September 2022. Currently as a result of the pandemic situation, although passenger volume has decreased significantly, improvement construction is still underway, and a total of 52 elevators and escalators have been completed.
Hopefully, after the pandemic situation has ended, Taipei MRT will be able to provide more convenient transportation services to people in the Greater Taipei Metropolitan Area.
![Taiwan.gov.tw [ open a new window]](/images/egov.png)
