Taipei Metro scales back off-peak service as morning ridership falls by 40%

Описание: The Taipei MRT has launched a new train schedule with reduced service at off-peak periods. On the Blue Line, passengers now need to wait about a minute longer for a train during off-peak hours. The adjustment comes after a sharp drop in ridership due to Taipei’s COVID outbreak.

It’s rush hour at Taipei Main Station, and office workers are out in force. Although metro ridership has fallen by 40% since the previous Monday, some of the carriages are still packed with people.

Lin En-ju
FTV reporter
The Taipei Metro has a solution for passengers who want to know whether a car is crowded before hopping on. You can use the system’s own mobile app. Select the station you are at, in our case Taipei Main Station. Tap it, and a diagram will show you how crowded each car is for the trains going in both directions.

The handy tool can help passengers avoid crowds to minimize infection risk. Due to decreased ridership, Taipei Metro has reduced its services at off-peak times. For instance, on the Blue Line, trains used to come every one to two minutes. Now, passengers have to wait about three minutes for a train.

Passenger
You have to wait about three minutes. It’s a little bit slower. They spaced them out a little after all. (Reporter: Did you feel the difference?) Yes.

Passengers say they don’t mind the longer wait, but that they do fear getting infected while taking public transport. On her Facebook page, President Tsai Ing-wen posted a list of pandemic guidelines for office workers. They include staggering work schedules and leaving contact tracing info on public transport. She also called for wearing a mask in cars if there are two occupants or more, and wearing one at the office if social distancing isn’t possible. The last point asks people to go straight home after work and not linger around outside. These past few days, Taiwan’s streets have become completely deserted, as people stay home to avoid infection.