Construction on Taipei Metro line to Xizhi to begin in 2025

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Work on the new metro line connecting Xizhi and Donghu in an area northeast of Taipei will start at the beginning of 2025, the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems said Tuesday.

The department said in a statement that the tender for the construction project was settled Tuesday and awarded to Malaysia-based Gamuda Berhad and Taiwan-based MiTAC Information Technology Corp. and Dong Pi Co. Limited.

The tender was for the turnkey project covering civil engineering, construction, core system engineering, electric and water services, and environmental control engineering, the department said.

The new line, which will go from Taipei's Neihu District to the Xizhi District Office in New Taipei, will have six above ground stations and cover 5.56 kilometers -- 0.81 km in Taipei and 4.75 km in New Taipei -- the department said.

Department of Rapid Transit Systems deputy chief Cheng Chih-ming (鄭智銘) told CNA that the metro line will be a medium capacity rail system, with a minimum capacity of 530 people per train.

Once completed, the new line will connect with the existing Donghu Station on the Taipei Metro's Wenhu (Brown) Line, Cheng said.

In the future, the metro line will also be integrated with the Keelung metro line and the Minsheng metro line in Taipei, both of which are still in the planning stages, he said.