Ximen metro station


Ximen is a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan served by Taipei Metro. The station is named after the former west gate of the city, whose location is roughly where the current station is located.

Station overview

The station is a three-level, underground structure with two island platforms and six exits, allowing possible connections to the shopping areas and Diary of Ximen hotel. The two platforms are stacked, thus allowing for cross-platform interchange between Green Line and Blue Line. Washrooms are inside the entrance area. In November 2010, the daily ridership at Ximen station was 112,000, making it the fourth busiest station on the network, just behind Taipei Main Station, Taipei City Hall and Zhongxiao Fuxing station.
It is situated under Zhonghua Rd, at the intersection of Chengdu Rd, Hengyang Rd, and Baoqing Rd. The station is also connected to the Ximen Intelligent Library.
Exit 6 is heavily used by those accessing the Ximending shopping area. The exit opening is set at the top of the pedestrian zone, although there is still vehicular traffic in that area. The station is often crowded on weekends, especially in the afternoon.

Station layout

History

During Japanese rule, a railway station at the current site was called Shinkichō Station and opened on 5 November 1930. It was specifically for refueling and its location was roughly where the current MRT station is today.
After the war during post-war rebuilding, the station's name was changed to the current "Ximen". It was later closed due to illegal construction. An underground emergency station opened on 2 September 1987 as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project.
Ximen railway station used to be a station on the TRA Western Line. However, the underground area is nowadays only used as an emergency station and not open for revenue service.
Construction of Ximen MRT station started in 1995, and the station opened on 24 December 1999 for the Blue line. On 30 August 2000, a service to opened, which would later become the on 15 November 2014.
In the past, plans for the Taoyuan Airport MRT had this station as a terminus. However, the route has since been altered and the station is no longer on the planned route.