TAIWAN: Rapid Transit System Bureau of Taichung City Government has awarded an international consortium a NT$60·8bn turnkey contract to supply the rolling stock and electrical systems for the MRT Blue Line automated metro project.
Signalling partner Alstom’s €159m share of the contract covers the provision of the same Urbalis CBTC technology as it supplied for the city’s Green Line, supporting headways down to 90 sec. CTCI will provide the line’s power supplies. Hyundai Rotem will supply the rolling stock for 415bn won. ST Engineering Urban Solutions’ S$1·4bn share of the contract includes project management and systems integration, telecoms, fare collection systems, platform screen doors and SCADA.
The contract starts in the Q2 2025 and runs for 14 years.
Engineering challenges
The city’s second metro line is to run 24·8 km from Taichung Port in the west along Taiwan Boulevard through the city centre to Taichung railway station in the east. It will have eight elevated stations and 12 underground stations, including an interchange to the Green Line at the City Hall. There will be provision for an interchange with the planned Orange Line.
The project aims to alleviate traffic congestion, promote the regeneration of older urban areas and support new development as part of the city’s ‘Happiness, Sustainability and Prosperity’ strategy.
The engineering challenges are expected to be significantly greater than those of the Green Line, as the route will cross major roads, railways and a river as well as complex geological structures. The depot will be on a stepped site on the side of a hill.
