Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

MRT Circular line Phase II north & south section construction has once again reached a new milestone. On October 15, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for section contract CF680A construction in the Wugu-Luzhou section of the Circular line north section at Gengliao Elementary School in Wugu District, New Taipei City. The ceremony was co-hosted by Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an and New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chen Chwen-jing, and central and local VIP guests from all walks of life were invited to pray together for the smooth completion of the construction project according to schedule and quality standards. 

Taipei City DORTS First District Project Office (1st DPO), which is responsible for the construction, explained that section contract CF680A has a route length of 3.3km, and the contract was awarded to Kung Sing Engineering Corporation (KSECO) with a bid of over NT$14.8 billion. 1st DPO stated that the construction of this section commences in front of New Taipei Industrial Park Station and runs along Wugong Rd. before turning right on Wuquan Rd., crossing Erchong Floodway, passing the south side of the highway and Siwei Rd., and terminating at Zhongshan 1st Rd. in Luzhou District.

1st DPO pointed out that the scope of the project is massive with an extremely high degree of difficulty; for instance, the route of the shield tunnel has a curved design to match the position of the National Highway 1 bridge pier foundations. Consequently, a higher-costing earth pressure balanced shield machine will be utilized to cross the highway with precision. 1st DPO further stated that Station Y20 is a four-level underground side platform station with an excavation depth reaching 36.2 meters, and it is the deepest station on the north section. The MRT construction team will employ numerous protective measures to overcome all construction difficulties one-by-one. 

In his speech, Mayor Chiang Wan-an mentioned that there are eight section contracts for the civil engineering construction in north & south section, and under the diligent efforts of the construction team, following section contract CF680C North Depot project and section contracts CF680B and CF670A, the fourth section contract has commenced as a continuation of their persistent efforts. Mayor Chiang stated that three section contract construction has been carried out on the north section located in New Taipei City, and he anticipates that tendering for the other four section contracts on the north & south section will soon be completed to enable all of Circular line Phase II construction to commence so that the objective of constructing Taipei MRT’s first circular-shaped route network can be accomplished as soon as possible.

Mayor Chiang Wan-an further elaborated that the north & south section, which connects Taipei City and New Taipei City, will be of great significance in connecting traffic arteries. Following the completion of construction and opening for operations, it will significantly shorten the travel time between Taipei City and New Taipei City. The 29 minutes of travel time from New Taipei Industrial Park Station to St. Ignatius High School Station will be shortened to 8 minutes, the 32 minutes from New Taipei Industrial Park Station to Shilin Station will be shortened to 20 minutes, and the 49 minutes from New Industrial Park Station to Jiannan Road Station will be shortened to 28 minutes. Convenient transportation will greatly increase the public’s willingness to ride and reduce the use of private vehicles, which in addition to alleviating traffic problems in the Taipei City and New Taipei City area, will also be conducive to energy conservation and carbon reduction.

DORTS Commissioner Cheng De-fa stated that the entire loop of the Taipei Circular line, traversing Taipei City and New Taipei City, can be reached by taking one train. Construction of the entire route is divided into Phase I, north & south section and east section. Phase I was opened for operations on January 31, 2020. Four of the eight civil construction projects on the north & south section have also smoothly commenced, and detailed design tasks are currently underway for the east section.

DORTS further elaborated that in the future Taipei Metropolitan Area’s first Circular line will link together the currently operational seven radial MRT routes with MRT, light rail, Taiwan Railways, Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Taoyuan Airport MRT rendezvous transfers at 14 stations. DORTS emphasizes that the convenience, comfort, and punctuality of the entire Circular line will dramatically shorten commuting times, expand residents’ mobility maps, and improve the public’s living quality.