Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said Friday that the first phase of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin Line is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
Ko made the comment while inspecting the underground MRT Taipei Botanical Garden Station currently under construction.
In the first phase of construction, a 9.5 kilometer-long line is being built connecting Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Juguang Station in Zhonghe. It will have a total of nine underground stations.
According to the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei Botanical Garden Station will be the smallest of all the MRT stations currently in operation.
In order to preserve the integrity of the site, engineers had to carry out 44 months of archaeological excavation before construction work on the station started.
Built by the Japanese as "Taipei Nursery" in 1896, the site was expanded in 1921 to become Taipei Botanical Gardens, which is home to over 2,000 species of plant. There are two buildings in the botanical garden currently listed as historical structures.
Phase two of the Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin Line, which is still in the planning stage, is expected to extend to Huilong in New Taipei's Xinzhuang District and include a total of 13 stations over the 13.3 km line.
