The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations.
Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文).
Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship.
Photo: Chen I-kuan, Taipei Times
Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome.
There are three shuttle buses in the area heading toward MRT stations that run from midnight to 1:30am.
The first leaves from the Renai Road and Yanji Street intersection, heading toward Taipei Railway Station.
Photo: Humans of Taipei Facebook
The second leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Wenchang Street intersection next to Keelung Road Sec 2, heading toward Gongguan Station.
The third leaves from the Songde Road and Xinyi Road Sec 6 intersection, heading toward Jingmei and Muzha stations.
There is one more shuttle bus running from midnight to 2am that leaves from the Guangfu S Road and Zhongxiao E Road intersection, heading toward Nanjing Sanmin Station.
The Taipei MRT runs for 24 hours on New Year’s Day, except for the Xiaobitan and Xinbeitou lines, which close at midnight.
As most people took the Blue and Red lines in previous years, it is recommended to walk or take a shuttle bus to Nanjing Sanmin or Taipei Arena stations to take the Green Line.
Catching the Green Line from either of those stations is free from midnight to 6am.
The Taoyuan MRT is to run for 41 consecutive hours from 6am today to 11pm tomorrow.
Starting from 5pm today, 33 YouBike stations in the Xinyi area are to be closed, with 22 more stations closing at 7pm.
The stations open again at 3am.
Taipei police will also take measures to control traffic flows in Xinyi District (信義) this evening.
A three-phase traffic control plan is to be implemented in Xinyi between 7pm and 3am, the Taipei Police Department's Traffic Division said, as it urged motorists to take note of the restrictions.
In Phase 1 from 7pm to 8pm, the controlled area includes west of Songren Road, south of Zhongxiao E Road, north of Xinyi Road, and east of Keelung Road and Yixian Road.
Vehicles within the controlled area are allowed to exit, but not enter.
In Phase 2 from 8pm to 10pm, the controlled zone is to expand to the west to Guangfu S Road.
Vehicles are prohibited from entering or exiting the controlled area.
The Keelung Road underground passage will also be closed.
from 10pm to 3am, the controlled area includes east of Guangfu S Road, south of Zhongxiao E Road, north of Xinyi Road and Zhuangjing Road, and west of Lane 236 of Zhongxiao E Road Sec 5, Songde Road and Songren Road.
No vehicles are allowed to enter or exit the controlled area, and adjustments to the controlled zones would be made flexibly based on crowd conditions.
Separately, New Taipei City is hosting a New Year’s Eve firework display tonight at 8:25pm over the Tamsui River (淡水河).
There are also festivities along Bali District’s (八里) left bank waterfront starting at 3pm, including performances and markets.
The Bali District Office recommended several places for viewing the fireworks, including the Bali Left Bank; Shuixinggong (水興公), Shuibizi (水筆仔) and Shihsanhang (十三行) parks; and Beidi Beach (北堤沙灘).
Additional reporting by Lo Kuo-chia
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS