Zhonghe–Xinlu line

Zhonghe–Xinlu line
Dingxi MRT station of the orange line
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	24 December 1998
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

The Zhonghe–Xinlu or Orange line (code O) is a line of the Taipei Metro named after the districts it connects: Zhonghe, Xinzhuang and Luzhou. As of 29 June 2013, all construction on the Line O has been completed. The line runs through New Taipei and Taipei and has a terminus in Taoyuan City.

Due to heavy traffic for residents in the districts of Luzhou and Sanchong traveling in and out of downtown Taipei, a rapid transit line was constructed to meet this urgent need.^[1] Although the Luzhou Line is technically only the section from Daqiaotou to Luzhou, the Xinzhuang Line section is commonly included as part of the Luzhou Line. All stations are equipped with platform screen doors and it is the first high-capacity line in the system equipped with them.

As of April 2016, the Xinzhuang Depot was still under construction and expected to be finished in January 2018, completing the Xinzhuang Line.^[2]

To proceed to Wenhu line from this line and vice versa, twice transfers is required.

History

On 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.^[3]

Since the line opened for service on 24 December 1998,^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] It opened for service on 5 January 2012.^[7] On its first full day of service, the line served 82,000 passengers.^[8] The line is expected to serve 100,000 passengers daily.

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.^[9]
• 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.^[10]
• 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.^[11]
• 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.^[11]
• 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.^[12]
• 3 November 2010: The line opens for service with the opening of the Luzhou to Zhongxiao Xinsheng section.^[13] A free trial period for the line ran until 2 December 2010.^[9]
• 3 December 2010: The line began revenue service.^[9]

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.^[14] It is expected to cut travel time between Luzhou and Taipei by at least half,^[15] with travel time between Luzhou and Taipei Main Station cut down to 17 minutes.^[16] 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.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19]

In anticipation of the opening of the new line, property prices along the route have risen by 36% since 2008.^[20] 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.^[21]

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

Route Services		Code	Station Name		Section	Transfer	Location		Distance (km)
			English	Chinese
	●	O54	Luzhou (Luzhou Lee Family Historic Estate)	蘆洲 (蘆洲李宅)	Luzhou		Luzhou	New Taipei	18.3
	●	O53	Sanmin Senior High School (National Open University)	三民高中 (空中大學)					17.3
	●	O52	St. Ignatius High School	徐匯中學		Y  [planned]			16.4
	●	O51	Sanhe Junior High School	三和國中			Sanchong		15.6
	●	O50	Sanchong Elementary School	三重國小					14.4
●	｜	O21	Huilong/Lo-Sheng	迴龍／樂生	Xinzhuang		Guishan Xinzhuang	Taoyuan	24.3
●	｜	O20	Danfeng	丹鳳			Xinzhuang Taishan	New Taipei	22.9
●	｜	O19	Fu Jen University	輔大			Xinzhuang		21.5
●	｜	O18	Xinzhuang (Xinzhuang Temple Street)	新莊 (新莊廟街)					19.7
●	｜	O17	Touqianzhuang (Taipei Hospital)	頭前庄 (臺北醫院)		Y  [2018]			18.7
●	｜	O16	Xianse Temple	先嗇宮			Sanchong		17.4
●	｜	O15	Sanchong	三重		A  (A2)			15.6
●	｜	O14	Cailiao (New Taipei City Hospital)	菜寮 (新北巿立醫院)					14.6
●	｜	O13	Taipei Bridge	台北橋					13.7
●	●	O12	Daqiaotou (Daqiao Elementary School)	大橋頭 (大橋國小)		Datong	Taipei	12.4
●	●	O11	Minquan West Road	民權西路	(R13)	Datong Zhongshan		11.8
●	●	O10	Zhongshan Elementary School (Qingguang Commercial Zone)	中山國小 (晴光商圈)		Zhongshan		11.1
●	●	O09	Xingtian Temple	行天宮				10.1
●	●	O08	Songjiang Nanjing	松江南京	(G15)			9.3
●	●	O07	Zhongxiao Xinsheng (National Taipei University of Technology)	忠孝新生 (台北科大)	(BL14)	Da'an Zhongzheng		8.1
●	●	O06	Dongmen	東門	(R07)			6.8
●	●	O05	Guting	古亭	Zhonghe			(G09)	5.3
●	●	O04	Dingxi	頂溪			Yonghe	New Taipei	3.2
●	●	O03	Yongan Market	永安市場			Yonghe Zhonghe		1.8
●	●	O02	Jingan	景安		Y  [2018]	Zhonghe		0.7
●	●	O01	Nanshijiao	南勢角					0.0

References