Thursday, August 09, 2007

Bikes Permitted on MRT Weekend and Holiday Evenings

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere in the English media, but you can now take your bicycle on the MRT on weekend and holiday evenings. This makes later afternoon riding in Xindian or Danshui much more practical. Remember, you can only take your bike on the Danshui-Xiandian or Beitou-Nanshijiao lines. Here's the official announcement.

Also, on returning from a ride on the Northern Cross Highway recently, I was able to take my disassembled bike in a bike bag on the MRT from the Yongning station in Tucheng back to Taipei on a Monday morning around 10am. The MRT regulations say that they can refuse passengers with oversize luggage, but they simply asked me to use the elevator. This is another option that makes all the great riding in the Sanxia area more accessible from Taipei.

Of course you can always ride out to Tucheng on the the bike path along the Dahan River.

2 comments:

Patrick Cowsill said...

The ride to Tucheng is nice, but very windy. I'm still a bit in the dark about the new rules. I'm guessing we're not allowed on from 4-7, but after 7, it's okay.

The article doesn't mention that we must go to the end cars to bring our bikes on.

Thanks for the info.

Michael Fahey said...

That's right. You can take your bike on the trains on weekends and holidays from 6:00am to 4:00pm and then again from 7:00pm on. You must use the end cars and the elevators. When you enter the station, approach the ticket counter and buy the special NT$100 one-way pass. Then wait for the station staff to let you through the wheelchair entrance. Some station staff can be a bit nervous about all this, so be patient and polite.

Also, as always in Taiwan, keep your ticket. You will need it to exit the station.

The wind tunnel effect along the Dahan River bike path to Tucheng is more pronounced in the winter and during the day. I rode it Friday evening and there was no wind at all.