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ORIGINAL YANGMINGSHAN MRT LINE PROPOSAL
Taipei has major traffic problems. These are particularly obvious during peak hours.
There has been considerable improvement in the traffic flow in recent years, with extensive road and MRT developments, mostly in the downtown area.
However, much remains to be done, especially in the Northern Suburbs of Taipei.
Following is my proposal addressing the traffic problems of the Northern Suburbs, based on 18 years living and in Taiwan as an industrial designer and inventor; this time almost equally divided between residing in Tien Mou and Neihu.
THE YANG MING SHAN MRT LINE
It is proposed that the Mucha Line be extended northward, from its existing terminus at ChungShan Middle School, firstly heading underground beneath SungShan Airport, then beneath Tachih, under the mountain range between Tachih / Neihu and Wai Shuang Shi, beneath Wai Shuang Shi, under the toe of the range extending down from Yang Ming Shan, and then beneath Tien Mou. Curving beneath Tien Mou, it would head toward Shih Pai, terminating beneath Shih Pai Station on the Tansui Line. See the attached map.
The total length of the Yang Ming Shan Line would be approximately 9.4 km. Seven stations would be located on the line. These stations would be as follows;
TACHIH
KU KUNG
YANG MING SHAN
SHIH TUNG
TIEN MOU
LONG TSONG
SHIH PAI
TACHIH
TACHIH STATION will be located beneath and between Pei An Rd and Ming Shuei Rd. With two main entrances, the Southern entrance will come out onto Pei An Rd, for Tachih residents and visitors. Shih Chien University and other colleges in the Tachih area will be within walking distance of Tachih Station.
The Northern entrance will surface on Ming Shuei Rd, with entrances on both sides of Ming Shuei Rd. This entrance will provide MRT access for Neihu residents and visitors. Adjacent the entrance on the east side of Ming Shuei Rd will be a bus terminal, for revised routes of the Neihu busses. Ultimately the Neihu MRT line will split from the Yang Ming Shan line at Tachih, taking much of the load from the bus routes.
KU KUNG (National Palace Museum)
KU KUNG STATION will be located in front of Ku Kung, the National Palace Museum, in WaiShuangShi. As well as providing convenient access to the Museum for most Taipei city folk, it will also be convenient for students and staff of Soochow University and other adjacent schools, and visitors to the Taiwan Aboriginal Museum nearby.
There is a large public parking area nearby where busses could terminate, serving upper Waishuangshi, Ping Ten Lee, and also Shihlin. For those living in Shihlin and needing to travel to the zoo or other places along the Mucha Line, a single transfer here, from bus to train, could allow them considerably improved access to a great area of Taipei.
YANG MING SHAN
YANG MING SHAN STATION will be located on Yang Der Dar Dow, in the vicinity of Yang Der Da Dow, Section 2. Actually the station entrance will be there; the station itself will be approximately 200 metres below.
Large, high speed elevators will connect the deep underground station with the entrance. These will travel between the station and the station entrance in approximately 30 seconds.
Location of a station at this point will greatly benefit residents of Yang Ming Shan. At this point on Yang Der Dar Dow, most of the steep climbing has been bypassed, including the switchbacks and curves which take so much time as one climbs to Yang Ming Shan, and again as one queues to get through the intersection at the bottom of the hill. It also bypasses the dangerous right angle corner at the top of the hill, which took the lives of 29 elderly Taichung residents back in the late 1980's, in a horrific bus crash.
Currently it takes up to 2 hours for those students and staff of Wn Hua Da Shui (Chinese Culture University) who live in Taipei, to travel from their homes to the University; and the same time on return. Some students spend more time traveling than in class. Although Yang Ming Shan Station will still be around 4 km from the Culture University, that is about ten minutes by bus, for a total trip time of 45 - 60 minutes; i.e. saving the students and staff two hours or more per day.
Of course, this station would also be useful for all Yang Ming Shan residents and visitors, though with limited parking available near the station entrance, all would be encouraged to use newly routed busses to travel between the station and their ultimate destination. A premium may be necessary on ticket prices for journeys starting or finishing at Yang Ming Shan, for the extra cost, maintenance & operation of the elevators.
The Yang Ming Shan Station may also get Taiwan into the Guinness Book of Records on one or two counts;
1), the size of the elevators; and
2), the percentage of residents of the suburb commuting via public transport, vs private.
SHIH TUNG
Location of SHIH TUNG Station will be on Shih Tung Rd, between the Tien Mou Stadium and the Shih Lin Courthouse. This station will greatly facilitate access to the stadium. If the stadium is for the Northern Suburbs, its location is good; however, if the stadium is for Taipei instead, its location is rather unfortunate, with Tien Mou's notorious traffic congestion; Chung Shan N Rd is virtually always busy, with not a 'peak hour' per se, but an 'anti peak hour', of approx. 1 am to 6 am, when it is relatively unclogged. With the increasing affluence of Taiwan and greater numbers of cars, and increased leisure time, the weekend traffic jams (when the stadium crowds are likely to be largest) are worse, and worsening.
An MRT station here on Shih Tung Rd could allow the stadium to entertain large crowds without exacerbating the traffic congestion in the Shih Lin / Tien Mou area, particularly on Chung Shan N Rd.
TIEN MOU
TIEN MOU Station will be located beneath the intersection of Chung Shan N Rd, and Tien Mou E and W Rds. Adjacent the Taipei Japanese School and the Taipei American Schools, and the nearby shopping areas, it will also serve the populations living along the four radiating roads.
The station could be located directly below the intersection, with entrances at each corner; this would facilitate safe transit for the school students and others at this intersection as they transit from one corner to the other, whether passengers on the MRT, or not.
LONG TSONG
LONG TSONG Station will be adjacent to, and directly connected to Taiwans' largest hospital at ShihPai, the Long Tsong (Veterans General) Hospital, from which it takes its name. This area is a large medical zone, with Long Tsong, adjacent Nurses College, and Ching Hsing Hospital.
All Yang Ming Shan Line stations and trains will feature good access for the disabled.
SHIH PAI
Terminus of the Yang Ming Shan Line will be Shih Pai Station, directly below Shih Pai Station on the TanSui Line. Elevators will interconnect the two stations.
Interconnecting these two lines will allow residents of Tien Mou or Yang Ming Shan to travel two ways to Taipei, either on the Yang Ming Shan line directly, or by changing at ShihPai and taking the TanSui Line. Riders will also be able to change trains to travel to Tan Sui, and also ultimately to NeiHu.
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This proposal is not an alternative to the Neihu Line. It is seen as a necessary complement to the Neihu Line. It will give all residents of Taipei much greater, and much greener, access to a large part of Taipei which at the moment has greatly restricted access; and vice versa.
As an example of how the Yang Ming Shan Line could work with the Neihu Line, say every second train from Mucha would go to Neihu on the Neihu Line, and every other train would go to ShihPai on the Yang Ming Shan Line.
Also, for every three trains from Neihu, one train from Neihu would go to Tachih, where it would change direction and go up the Yang Ming Shan Line. Also one train of three from ShihPai would do 'vise versa' It may be advisable for the Neihu to ShihPai trains to go as far south as ChungShan, ChungHsiao, or to the Technology Building before reversing, to maximise the carrying potential of these lines.
Comparing the Neihu and the Yang Ming Shan line, I would say both are important. However, Neihu has few natural barriers to transportation by the way of mountain ranges etc.; indeed, the only natural barrier to transportation in Neihu is the mountain range on its north side, which the Neihu Line will not cross, in any case. While traffic jams do occur in Neihu, they are not nearly as bad as those of Yang Ming Shan, Shihlin, and Tien Mou.
Yang Ming Shan and Tien Mou have considerable natural barriers, e.g. the Yang Ming Shan range and also the Neihu Range. These ranges concentrate traffic on Chung Shan N Rd, which is almost always congested.
Therefore, and subject to agreement, I recommend that the Yang Ming Shan Line be commenced as a matter of urgency. Even Neihu residents will benefit by implementation of the Yang Ming Shan Line, as they will then be able to change from special Neihu busses, at Tachih, to go quickly into Taipei, or in the other direction to Ku Kung, Yang Ming Shan and Tien Mou, or with another change at Shih Pai, all the way to Tansui, much faster that they now can.
It is said that the Mucha Line is a low capacity line and that the passenger loads of Yang Ming Shan and Tien Mou may overtax this line. However by connecting at Shih Pai to the high capacity Tansui line, people will be able to travel e.g. Tien Mou to Taipei by two different routes. This will effectively double the capacity of the Yang Ming Shan Line. It may not be possible to totally solve the peak hour congestion, considering that traffic loadings follow the well known laws of supply and demand. Other methods may assist in this area.
The Yang Ming Shan Line would considerably reduce Taipei's demand for fossil fuels, would make it a cleaner and less polluted city, and would make Taipei a much more convenient city for all to live in. It would also show that Taipei is committed to the Kyoto protocol and reducing CO2 emissions, even though not a signatory; indeed, not being permitted to sign.
I estimate many thousands of gallons of fossil fuels saved each day, in the Yang Ming Shan area alone.
The design shown is in a preferred form, but may be modified. e.g. it could be advantageous to have Yang Ming Shan Station located as far north on Yang Der Dar Dow as possible; I do not currently have enough information regarding turning radii, etc., especially in underground tunnels, to 'finalise' the design.
Also the existing Matra technology may or may not be suited to use on this line. The 'hardware' options must be studied.
This proposal is what I have been able to come up with 'on spec' in the available time.
The Yang Ming Shan Line will leverage Taipei's advantage of being one of the world's most compact cities, into being one of the world most compact and convenient cities.
One short line will make a major difference to Taipei's worst traffic problems.
Stuart Saunders,
ESDESIGN.
Taipei, 19th of January, 2001. Patent pending. All Rights Reserved.
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