Dongmen MRT Station is set to officially open at 6am today with a one-month fare discount to celebrate its debut, with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) saying it is to dispatch more staff to explain the route changes to passengers at major stations.
The station, which is located on Xinyi Road between Jinshan S Road and Yong Kang Street, serves as a transfer station for the Xinzhuang and Zhonghe lines.
Starting today, Taipei MRT’s Tamsui Line and the Zhonghe Line are to run independently, with Guting Station replacing Taipei Main Station as the new transfer station for passengers from Jhonghe (中和) heading in the direction of Taipei Main Station and along the Tamsui Line.
Photo: CNA
At the station’s launch ceremony yesterday, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the opening of the station marked the first change to MRT routes since the metropolitan transport system came into operation 15 years ago. He also called for the cooperation of passengers as more MRT transfer stations along key lines are brought into operation to avoid the heavy passenger numbers seen at certain transfer stations such as Taipei Main Station.
“We need passengers to be cooperative with the change to MRT routes and we hope they can support it. We will strengthen measures to help passengers familiarize themselves with the new routes and to avoid inconvenience,” he said.
TRTC general manager Tan Gwa-guang (譚國光) said the route change is designed to ease the flow of passengers at Taipei Main Station and that about 50,000 passengers are set to transfer at Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station every day from now.
The final train running directly between Beitou MRT Station and Nanshijiao Station attracted some passengers who waited at the two stations to document the last trains running along the old routes.
In celebration of the station’s opening, passengers using an EasyCard can travel free of charge through Guting Station, Dongmen Station and Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station over the course of the next 30 days.
EasyCard holders traveling between any of the four stations on the Zhonghe Line (Nanshijiao, Jinan, Yongan Market and Dingxi) and north of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station on the Tamsui Line are to enjoy a 30 percent discount.
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,