TAIWAN: The Green Mountain tram line in the Tamsui District of New Taipei City opened on December 23, with a month of free travel.
The 7·4 km route runs north from Hongshulin station on the Tamsui metro line to Kanding, where the depot is located. Services operate every 15 min between 06.30 and 22.00 and serve 11 stops, seven of which are elevated. New Taipei Metro is the operator.
Construction started in November 2014 and was carried out by China Steel Corp. Thales has supplied signalling, communications and a control centre under a €17m contract awarded in 2015.
The Taiwan Rolling Stock Co joint venture of China Steel Corp, Tang Eng Iron Works, Nippon Sharyo and Sumitomo Corp has supplied 15 bidirectional five-section trams. Voith provided design support, and assistance with production and systems integration in Taiwan.
The 34·5 m long Warrior trams are equipped with lithium batteries to allow catenary-free operation across road junctions. The vehicles have capacity for 265 passengers including 62 seated and a maximum design speed of 80 km/h, although the line speed is limited to 70 km/h.
The Green Mountain line is the first of four lines planned for the Danhai tram network. The Blue Ocean line also forms part of the first phase, while the Bali and Sanzhi lines are at the planning stage.
