The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Bureau yesterday responded to criticism that its design for its Cruise Terminal station on the city’s planned Yellow Line would inconvenience passengers connecting to a nearby light-rail station.
Lee Yu-chen (李雨蓁), the Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Kaohsiung City councilor candidate for Fengshan District (鳳山), yesterday wrote on Facebook that the bureau had changed its plans for the Y15 MRT station on Sanduo Fifth Road, removing space for an underground tunnel to Kaohsiung Light Rail’s C9 station.
Lee said that plans exhibited by the construction company as of April showed that the entrance to the Y15 station had been shifted 100m from its original location and would now be on the same side of the street as the C9 station, making it a farther walk for passengers.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation via CNA
Lee added that the change could severely affect passengers’ inclination to transit to other stations from the Cruise Terminal as it would be inconvenient.
The bureau said its designs account for the constraints of the area around the Cruise Terminal building, adding that the station’s exits would be opened in different stages.
It said it is considering removing walls at appropriate sections of the underground station to ensure flexible entrances and exits, and potentially connecting it to future building projects, adding that it would continue to fine-tune its designs to maximize passenger throughput.
Allowing easy transfers between the MRT and light-rail lines requires considering the development and unique characteristics of the area, it said.
The Y15 station was designed to service people arriving and going on cruise ships, it said.
The city plans for arriving cruise passengers to clear customs on the second floor of the Cruise Terminal building, and then take a walkway to a separate structure that leads to the Y15 station, it said.
The bureau said it is also considering using the light rail’s C8 station at Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, which is 100m away, as an alternative route to alleviate traffic issues.
The Cabinet in March approved the plans for the Y15 station, while the Public Construction Commission this month approved an estimated NT$144.23 billion (US$4.82 billion) in funding for the project.
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