Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) The Ankeng Light Rail (LRT) began trial operations Friday, with passengers able to ride the line in New Taipei's Xindian District for free until March 12.
Passengers can take free rides on the Ankeng LRT using electronic stored-value cards including EasyCards, iPASSes, iCASH cards between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the trial period, with trains running every 10 minutes, according to the line's operator, New Taipei Metro Corp.
The company said the 7.5-kilometer line -- which runs between Shuangcheng Station and Shisizhang Station, both in New Taipei's Xindian District -- would reduce commute times between the region and the Greater Taipei area by 15-20 minutes.
Passengers can transfer to the Taipei Metro system via Shisizhang Station on the Circular (Yellow) Line for onward travel on the Xindian (Green) Line or the Zhonghe (Orange) Line in less than 10 minutes, according to the company.
The nine-stop LRT, which takes 21 minutes to travel across the entire line, is expected to carry 53,000 trips per day, the operator said.
Starting March 13, the line will operate daily between 6 a.m. and midnight, with journeys under 5 km to cost NT$20 and above to cost NT$25.
Like the Danhai LRT, frequent travelers on the Ankeng LRT can get a NT$50 rebate after every NT$200 spent on the line.
There will be one train per 15 minutes in general, with one train every 7.5 minutes during rush hour between Ankang Station and Shisizhang Station, located next to Ankeng's two most densely populated areas.
Attending the line's inauguration ceremony on Friday, Deputy Transport Minister Allen Hu (胡湘麟) said the government was working to encourage the manufacture and application of domestically made rail infrastructure.
The Ankeng LRT uses 42 percent Taiwan-made equipment, compared with 22 percent on the Danhai LRT, Hu said, expressing hopes that the level could be raised to over 50 percent in the future.
