Beginning this March, a brand new Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line will begin to carry passengers from Taipei Main Station to the Taoyuan International Airport.

Construction for the new line began in 2006 and was supposed to be completed by 2010. However, due to several delays during construction, the line will now be completed by March of 2017. Now that the project is nearly complete, the new Taoyuan Airport MRT line will undergo final inspections and trial runs during the Lantern Festival. After the one month trial runs, the line hopes to begin full scale commercial operations beginning around March.

The MRT line will reportedly run from the Taipei Main Station to Zhongli Station, and it will involve over 20+ stations, including stops at the two terminals of the Taoyuan International Airport. Ticket prices are reportedly set to a minimum of 30 NTD and a maximum of 160 NTD though this has come under fire from many ordinary citizens, who criticized that the prices are too expensive. The Taoyuan Metro Corporation has stated that the approximate transport time from Taipei Main Station to Taoyuan International Airport will be around 35 minutes. The line will also include a capacity control system which will only allow 10,000 people to travel in a single day.

Several students offered their opinion on whether they would use the new MRT line or not:

“Why not? I mean, it’s there for us and it’s meant to be used so why not use it. I think it also saves us some trouble because in the past, you would need to park your car near the airport but now you can just leave the car at home and use the MRT instead,” says Leon Y. (11).

“If I were to go by myself, I might take it. But I also use a taxi service where the limousine will come straight to my house and get me to the airport so it depends,” says Zef R. (9).

“With this new MRT line, I would probably consider using it because it’ll help save gas and, in general, resolve the trouble of looking for a parking space,” says Tiffany C. (12).

“No, because when you have luggage, it’s really annoying to carry on to the MRT,” says Yichin T. (11)

Barring any setbacks, the Taoyuan International Airport Line will begin operating in March, allowing for quick and easy transportation to the airport.