Green line of Taichung Mass Rapid Transit will have the test run by the end of this year and the official launch of service will be scheduled in 2020. In order to enhance the transportation along the line, Transportation Bureau of Taichung City Government has planned to introduce Route 800 「MRT express bus」 and start to run on 29th August with the free service on the first three days. On Wenxin road section, the bus will stop by the MRT stations only to allow the citizens to be familiar with the names of MRT stations earlier and facilitate the transportation convenience of commuters and students around Beitun, Xitun, Nantun, South District and Wuri District, also, they can easily transfer to Taiwan Railway or High Speed Rail (HSR). After the exhibition of Flora Expo closed, the express will be further replaced by auto-bus to reflect the spirit of green traffic.
Director of Transportation Bureau Yi-chuan Wang said, Route 800 MRT express bus「MRT-Songchu station to MRT-HSR Taichung station」on Wenxin Road will only stop by the future MRT stations, the name of each station will be prefixed with「MRT」to allow the citizens to be familiar with the locations and names of MRT stations earlier. After the exhibition of Flora Expo closed, the express will be thoroughly replaced by auto-bus to have one more auto-bus route on Wenxin road pass.
Director Wang said, the first service of Route 800 starts at AM 5:40 and the last service closes at PM 11:00; service interval in peak hours will be 10 to 15 minutes and the station plan is based on the concept of「Frog jumping」to serve the transportation of the teachers and students in the schools, including Sihwei elementary school, Chongcing elementary school, Lizen junior high school, Wen-hua senior high school, Da shin elementary school, Yong chun elementary school and Chung Shan Medical University etc. nearby the MRT stations.
Director Wang pointed out, there was a Route 85 bus driving from the direction of Donshan road through Wenxin road until HSR Taichung station. Route 85 stopped by each station with longer transportation time and low pedestrian rate. The serving company applied to terminate the route to HSR station and extend the service to Taiping area. Therefore, many citizens living in Beitun will need to spend more time on transferring to HSR Taichung station.
After MRT express bus service starting, it will save around 20 minutes compared with the previous Route 85 bus so it’s faster to arrive at Daqing train station and HSR Taichung station etc. to transfer easily by the mixed public transportation services.
Route 800 MRT express bus will stop by:MRT-Songchu station, MRT-Sihwei elementary school station, MRT-Chongder Wenxin station, MRT-Zhungqing Wenxin station, MRT-Wenhua senior high school station, MRT-Sakura Wenxin station, MRT-Taichung City Government station, MRT-Shuian station, MRT-Wenxin forest park station, MRT-Nantun station, MRT-Fengla park station , MRT-Daqing station, MRT-Jouchangli station , MRT-Jouder station, MRT-Wuri station, MRT-HSR Taichung station etc.
The officer of Transportation Bureau pointed out,「MRT express bus」routes are managed by Chung-lu bus after selection and the company has been ready to operate. The service will start on 29th August with first three days of free service. Welcome to take the bus as you’d like.