Taipei Main Station

Taipei Main Station (Chinese: 台北車站; pinyin: Táiběi chēzhàn) is a major metro and railway station in the capital Taipei, Taiwan.[13] It is served by Taipei Metro, the Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Taiwan Railway. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal station of Taoyuan Airport MRT and the Taipei Bus Station. It is the busiest station in Taiwan.

Taipei

台北·臺北
Taiwan High Speed Rail
Taiwan Railways Administration
Taipei MetroTaiwan High Speed Rail and Taiwan Railway station
Taipei Main Station
Chinese name
Chinese台北·臺北
General information
Location3 Beiping W Rd
Zhongzheng, Taipei[1]
Taiwan
Coordinates25°02′51″N 121°31′01″E / 25.0475°N 121.5170°E / 25.0475; 121.5170[1]
Distance
Connections
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Other information
Station code
  • TPE/02 (THSR)
  • 100 (TR three-digit)[1]
  • 1008 (TR four-digit)[1]
  • A10 (TR statistical)[4]
  • ㄊㄞ (TRA telegraph)
ClassificationSpecial class (Chinese: 特等) (TRA)[5]
Website
History
Opened20 October 1891 (1891-10-20)[6]
Rebuilt2 September 1989 (1989-09-02)[7]
Electrified9 January 1978 (1978-01-09)[8]
Previous namesTaihoku (Japanese: 臺北)
Key dates
25 August 1901 (1901-08-25)Rebuilt
April 1918 (1918-04)Relocated
1941 (1941)Rebuilt
14 July 1985 (1985-07-14)Rebuilt
2 March 2007 (2007-03-02)THSR opened[9]
Passengers
202026.457 million per year[10]Decrease 16.26%
Rank1
Services
Preceding stationTaiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed RailFollowing station
Nangang
Terminus
THSRBanqiao
towards Zuoying
Preceding stationTaiwan Railway Taiwan RailwayFollowing station
Songshan
towards Keelung
Western Trunk lineWanhua
towards Pingtung
Location
Taipei is located in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei
Location within Taipei
Taipei is located in Taiwan
Taipei
Taipei
Taipei (Taiwan)
Taipei Main Station

台北車站
Taipei Metro
Taipei metro station
Entrance M4
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese臺北車站
Simplified Chinese台北车站
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTáiběi Chē Zhàn
Bopomofoㄊㄞˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄔㄜ ㄓㄢˋ
Wade–GilesTaipei Chechan
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳThòi-pet Chhâ-chhàm
Southern Min
Tâi-lôTâi-pak Tshia-tsām
General information
Location49 Sec 1 Zhongxiao W Rd
Zhongzheng District, Taipei
Taiwan
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Bicycle facilitiesNo access
Other information
Station codeR10, BL12
Websiteweb.metro.taipei/e/stationdetail2010.asp?ID=BL12+R10-051
History
Opened25 December 1997 (1997-12-25)[11]
Key dates
24 December 1999 (1999-12-24)Bannan line opened
Passengers
2016287,812 daily (December 2020)[12]Increase 0.02%
Rank(Ranked 1st of 109)
Services
Preceding station Taipei MetroFollowing station
Zhongshan
towards Tamsui or Beitou
Tamsui–Xinyi lineNTU Hospital
towards Xiangshan or Daan
XimenBannan lineShandao Temple

Station overview

Layout of Taipei station in 2021, including the Taoyuan Airport MRT station and Beimen
  Taipei Main Station
  Taoyuan Airport MRT station
  Shopping plaza

The central building of Taipei Main Station is a rectangular building in Zhongzheng District with six stories above ground and four stories below ground. The building is 149 m (488 ft 10 in) long and 110 m (360 ft 11 in) wide. The first floor has a large ticketing hall with a skylight and three ground-level exits in each cardinal direction, the second is occupied by restaurants managed by the Breeze group, and all floors above are office spaces. At the B1 level, there are turnstiles for the TR and THSR platforms, along with a myriad of underground passageways for Taipei Bus Station, the Taoyuan Metro station, and Beimen metro station. Zhongshan Metro Mall, Taipei City Mall, Station Front Metro Mall, and Qsquare all connect on this level as well. TRA and THSR each have two island platforms at the B2 level. As for Taipei Metro, the Bannan line's platforms are located at the south of the station building; the entrances are at the B2 level, and the platforms are at B3. The Tamsui-Xinyi line's entrance is directly under the station building at B3, and the platforms are at B4.[14][15][16]

Station layout

6F

3F
Taiwan Railways Administration
offices
Taiwan Railway, Scheduling Control Center
TR Employee Rooms
YMCA, other private companies (Rented)
TRA Auditorium
2FRetail levelTaipei Station Breeze Center, Food Court (Elevator at East Entrance 2)
Restrooms
L1Street levelEntrance/Exit
TRA/THSR ticketing, automatic ticket machines, tourism counter
TRA Information Office, TRA Station Manager Office, railway police
TRA information desk, THSR police, THSR military police
TRA Entrance/Exit, Guard
TRA Luggage OfficeTRA Parcel Center (Separate structure)
THSR Administrationoffices
B1ConcourseTHSR ticketing, TRA/THSR automatic ticketing, ticket gates, waiting area
Restrooms
Car park, Military Transportation Service
Connects to B1 of the Taipei Metro
Underground passagewayZhongshan Metro Mall, Taipei Underground Market, Eslite Taipei Station, restrooms
Connects to B1 of TRA/THSR, Taipei Bus Station
B2Metro LobbyInformation desk, faregates, restrooms (Inside fare area)
Red line, Blue line transfer area, escalators to platforms
Metro offices
(Separate structure)
Metro Control Center briefing rooms
2ATRA Control levelTRA Traffic Room, Central Station Monitoring Center
2BPlatform 1ATHSR towards Zuoying (Banqiao)
Island platform
Platform 1BTHSR towards Zuoying (Banqiao)
Platform 2ATHSR towards Nangang
Island platform
Platform 2BTHSR towards Nangang
Fifth trackWest Coast line does not stop here
Platform 3AWest Coast line towards Taichung, Kaohsiung (Wanhua)
Island platform
Platform 3BWest Coast line towards Shulin (Wanhua)
Platform 4AWest Coast line towards Keelung (Songshan)
Island platform
Platform 4BWest Coast line towards Yilan, Hualien, Taitung (Songshan)
TRA offices levelStaff training classroom
2CMachinery levelMachinery
B3Concourse
(Transfer to Metro
TRA Entrance)
TRA/THSR ticketing, automatic ticket machines, ticket gates
Escalator to B2 – TRA/THSR platforms
Metro faregates, information desk, lost and found, gallery
Restrooms (inside and outside fare zone), Automatic ticket dispensing machines
One-way faregates
Platform 3 Bannan line towards Nangang Exhib Center / Kunyang (BL13 Shandao Temple)
Island platform, doors open on the left
Platform 4 Bannan line towards Dingpu / Far Eastern Hospital (BL11 Ximen)
Control Center
(Separate structure)
High-Capacity Traffic Control Center
(Another traffic center exists)
B4Platform 1 Tamsui–Xinyi line towards Tamsui / Beitou (R11 Zhongshan)
Island platform, doors open on the left
Platform 2 Tamsui–Xinyi line towards Xiangshan / Daan (R09 NTU Hospital)

HSR services

HSR services 1xx, (1)2xx, (1)3xx, (1)5xx[a], (1)6xx, and (8)8xx call at this station. The first two southbound trains in the day are 803 (stops at all stations) at 06:26 and 203 (Taipei-Banqiao-Taichung-Chiayi-Tainan-Zuoying) at 06:30. Service 203 is the only train of the day that departs from Taipei Station, and does not depart from Nangang station like most southbound trains do. Although Service 203 departs four minutes later after Service 803, passengers traveling to major cities such as Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung will save more time taking Train No. 203, while Train No. 803 would be more suitable for traveling to nearby cities such as Taoyuan or Hsinchu.

Around the station

Taipei Main Station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT is connected to Taipei station via underground passageways
Taipei City Mall

(K)K Underground Mall

  • Exit M1/Y2:  TRA/THSR (Entrance North 1)
  • Exit M2: Civic Blvd Expressway
  • Exit M3: Cosmos Hotel Taipei/ Talk Club Taiwan(美立達留學遊學中心)
  • Exit M4: TRA/THSR (Entrance South 1)
  • Exit M5: Station Front Plaza
  • Exit M6: Caesar Park Hotel Taipei, National Taiwan Museum
  • Exit M7: Zhongshan N. Rd.
  • Exit M8: Gongyuan Rd, YMCA Taipei

(M)Zhongshan Metro Mall

(Y)Taipei City Mall

(Z)Station Front Metro Mall

History

Taipei station in 1914
The old Taipei station in 1948.

The first rail station in Taipei was completed in Twatutia in 1891, during Qing rule, when the railway to Keelung was opened for service.[17][18] Initially, a temporary station was built while a permanent station was constructed in 1897, during Japanese rule (1895–1945). In 1901, the station was located to the east of its current location. It was rebuilt in 1940 to accommodate growing passenger traffic.

To alleviate traffic congestion caused by railroad crossings in downtown Taipei, an underground railway tunnel between Huashan and Wanhua was built along with the present station building as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project.[19] When the underground system was completed on 2 September 1989, railway service was moved to the newly completed building (completed on 5 September 1989) and the old building as well as a temporary station were demolished.

The current station was further expanded with the opening of the Taipei Metro. The metro station is connected to the basement of the railway station and opened to passenger traffic in 1997 to the Tamsui–Xinyi line. It became a massive transfer hub with the opening of the Bannan Line in 1999. Extensive underground malls now exist at the front and back of the station,[20] which emulate those found in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. The station also became a terminus for Taiwan High Speed Rail trains when the network began service in 2007.

Ongoing developments

Taipei station and the area surrounding it have been undergoing renovation since 2005. Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki was chosen to design two skyscrapers that will surround the railroad station.[21] Maki will also oversee the renovation of Taipei station. The height of the taller tower will be 76 stories, whereas the shorter tower will be 56 stories.[22] The two skyscrapers will be constructed on empty parcels found adjacent to Taipei station, above the Taoyuan Airport MRT station.

The station interior underwent renovation work from February to October 2011.[23] Basement restrooms were renovated, the basement and first floor preparations for additional Breeze Plaza retail space began, the large ticket office in the first floor lobby was removed, and additional retail space was allocated.[23] In addition, the flooring on the first floor was completely replaced, fire and evacuation regulations were improved, and solar panels will be installed on the station roof.[23]

See also

References

Notes

References

Bibliography