TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Work on the second phase of Taipei Metro's Light Green Line kicked off on Thursday (March 28). 

Work on the line, also known as the Wanda-Zhonghe-Shulin Line, has commenced and is expected to be completed in 2031, reported Liberty Times. New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) and Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) jointly presided over the ceremony on Thursday. 

Once operational, it will take only 20 minutes from Tucheng Station to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station, with connections to three MRT lines. The new section will extend along Jincheng Road with an underground tunnel, transitioning to a section of elevated track near the Mingde Road intersection.

Hou said the new section has encountered various challenges, particularly labor and material shortages, but will span 13.3 km and 13 stations once complete. The project will cost billions, but Hou said not proceeding would result in even higher costs in the future. 

Section CQ880A is an underground project in Tucheng, New Taipei, approximately 2.84 km long. It includes two underground stations (LG09, LG10) and three sections of shield tunnels. 

Lee Cheng-an (李政安), head of New Taipei's Department of Rapid Transit Systems, told UDN that after the completion of the Light Green Line, commuting from Shulin District to the core areas of Taipei and New Taipei will be shortened by half an hour. 

In addition, Lee said the new line will allow transfers to three other MRT lines: the Blue Line (Bannan Line), Orange Line, and Taoyuan Brown Line at Tucheng Station and Huilong Station. This line will connect New Taipei's Tucheng, Shulin, and Xinzhuang Districts.