Neihu Line, Taipei Metro

Neihu Line, Taipei Metro
Neihu Line 內湖線
The Xihu Station platform
Overview
Locale	Taipei, Republic of China
Termini	Songshan Airport Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center
Stations	12
Service
Type	Rapid transit
Operator(s)	Taipei Rapid Transit System
Depot(s)	Neihu Depot
Rolling stock	Bombardier INNOVIA 256, VAL 256 2 cars per set, 2 sets per train
History
Opened	July 4, 2009
Technical
Line length	14.8 km (9.2 mi)
Character	Elevated and underground
Track gauge	1,880 mm (6 ft 2 in)
Operating speed	80 kilometres per hour (50 mph)
Route map Template:Infobox rdt

Neihu Line, Taipei Metro
Traditional Chinese	內湖線
Simplified Chinese	内湖线
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nèihú Xiàn Bopomofo ㄋㄟˋ ㄏㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄢˋ Wade–Giles Nei4-hu2 Hsien4 Tongyong Pinyin Nèihú-Siàn Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lāi-ô-Sòaⁿ

The Taipei Metro Neihu Line is a medium-capacity rapid transit system and runs on an elevated corridor except near Songshan Airport and Dazhi. The line's service length is 14.8 kilometres (9.2 mi) and it is joined to the Wenshan Line at Zhongshan Junior High School Station, providing direct service through Neihu, Nangang, and Wenshan.

Line Overview

The Neihu Line is a Phase 1 Brown Line extension that brought rapid transit into the Neihu District (the last of Taipei's districts to have rapid transit). The line has 12 stations: 10 elevated and 2 underground stations. Construction was completed in late 2008, and trial operations began in early 2009. The line officially began service on July 4, 2009.

History

The long-awaited Neihu Line has had many delays prior to its opening. Since the Neihu Line was planned as an extension to the Wenshan Line, the original plan called for a similar elevated medium-capacity line. However, due to the growth of the Neihu District, many residents and politicians called for an underground, high-capacity line instead (similar to the Blue Line (Taipei Metro)).

The initial cost estimate of the elevated line was NT$42.6 billion, but due to delays the price-adjusted cost estimate rose to over NT$60.3 billion. A shift to underground construction would have increased the cost to as high as NT$134.4 billion. However, the Central Government stated that if construction for the Neihu Line did not start immediately, they would withhold the grant money for the line. In addition, due to the narrow streets and numerous turns in Neihu, construction of an underground high-capacity line would have been infeasible. Thus, the plan to build an elevated line continued after much delay.

There was also significant debate whether Songshan Airport should be included on the route. The addition of the station added an additional 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the line's length. Because of the inclusion of the station, the final cost of the line reached NT$66.7 billion.

The line was initially planned to begin service in 1996, and after 13 years of delay, the line finally began operations. However, the Neihu Line has been criticized for its frequent malfunctions and safety issues.

Important Dates

• February 23, 1987: Initial planning of the Neihu Line started.
• December 15, 1988: Construction of the Wenshan Line begins. At this time, the Neihu Line is planned to open in 1996.
• September 28, 1993: Because of fires on the trains during trials of the Wenshan Line, all Neihu Line planning was halted.
• October 9, 1993: The Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) announced plans to change the Neihu Line to a high-capacity underground line.
• August 23, 1994: The DORTS announced plans to continue building the Neihu Line as a medium-capacity elevated line. Neihu residents protest the change.
• September 26, 2001: All 12 stations on the Neihu Line are finalized.
• May 23, 2002: Construction begins on the Neihu Line.
• December 24, 2007: The first trial run is conducted between Songshan Airport and Jiannan Road.
• June 28, 2008: Construction of the Neihu Line is completed.
• July 4, 2009: The Wenshan Line is converted to the new Cityflo 650 system from the 13-year-old Matra VAL 256 system. Service on the Neihu Line begins.
• July 10, 2009: Because of system problems, service on the Brown Line is halted at 3:30 PM until 6:30 AM the next day.
• December 19, 2010: Retrofitted VAL 256 cars begin testing on the Brown Line. It is expected to decrease waits between trains and increase line capacity.

Rolling Stock

When the line began service in July 2009, the line only used the new Bombardier INNOVIA 256 train sets, with the old VAL 256's to be modified to work with the new Bombardier system.

On December 19, 2010, fifty-one pairs of retrofitted VAL 256's (from the Matra rolling stock) will begin testing on the entire line. After over half a year of testing, the additional trains will decrease the time between trains at rush hour from 2 minutes to 72 seconds and bring the total number of trains operating on the line to 152 pairs. The trains are expected to fully enter revenue service after testing by December 26, 2010. On December 26, 2010, the line will operate with 6 pairs of the retrofitted VAL 256's and 25-29 pairs of the Innovia 256's. By December 27, the ratio is expected to increase, with 10 pairs of VAL 256's and 40 pairs of the Innovia 256's.

Stations

Code	Station Name		Transfer	Location
	English	Chinese
B11	Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center	南港展覽館	Template:Taiwan line	Nangang	Taipei
B10	Nangang Software Park	南港軟體園區
B9	Donghu	東湖		Neihu
B8	Huzhou	葫洲
B7	Dahu Park	大湖公園
B6	Neihu	內湖
B5	Wende (Bihu Park)	文德 (碧湖公園)
B4	Gangqian	港墘
B3	Xihu	西湖
B2	Jiannan Road (Miramar)	劍南路 (美麗華)	Template:Taiwan line (2015)	Zhongshan
B1	Dazhi (Shih Chien University)	大直 (實踐大學)
BR1	Songshan Airport	松山機場		Songshan
BR2	Zhongshan Junior High School	中山國中		Zhongshan Songshan
→ Continues through Template:Taiwan line

Neihu Depot

The depot is located in the northeastern section of Nankang Software Park. The facility is 600 meters long, 120 meters wide, and covers and area of 7.21 hectares. Upon completion of its maintenance facilities, the Neihu Depot will take over as the major maintenance center from the existing Wenshan Depot.