Wenshan Line (TRTS)

Wenshan Line, Taipei Metro
Wenshan Line 文山線
Linguang station, as of 2008.
Overview
Type	People mover system
System	Taipei Metro
Status	Operational
Locale	Taipei, Taiwan
Termini	Zhongshan Junior High School Taipei Zoo
Stations	12
Daily ridership	91,400 (December 2008)
Operation
Opened	March 28, 1996
Owner	DORTS
Operator(s)	Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation
Rolling stock	VAL 256, Bombardier Innovia APM 256
Technical
Line length	10.9 km (6.8 mi)
Track gauge	Rubber-tired, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1500V Third-rail DC
Route map Template:Muzha Line (Taipei Metro) RDT This diagram:

The Taipei Metro Wenshan Line (previously known as the Muzha Line before October 8, 2009) is an elevated, medium-capacity line in Taipei, Taiwan. It was the first line on the Taipei Metro, consisting of 12 stations over 10.9 km. Opened on March 28, 1996, after construction delays compounded with legal tussles, the fully elevated people mover system is driverless and fully automated. A full-length journey on the line takes 22 minutes, and it is labelled as part of the Brown Line on the Taipei Metro. Currently, services are operated using 4-car Bombardier Innovia APM 256 rolling stock as well as the retrofitted VAL 256 trains and directly connect to the Neihu Line.

Construction of the Wenshan Line began in December 1988 at a cost of NT$42.6 billion. It was plagued by controversy, cost overruns and technical problems from its development up to a few years after its opening. Originally slated to commence passenger service in December 1991, its revenue operation was repeatedly delayed up to 28 March 1996 owing to numerous accidents. Public confidence was shakened as incidents of lightning strikes, computer failures, two instances of rolling stock derailment and catching fire each were reported during the testing phase. In 1999, cracks were found on the elevated pillars forcing the line to shut down temporarily.

One of the largest suppliers for the system, Matra, which supplied the VAL 256 rolling stock and electrical systems for the line sued the Department of Rapid Transit Systems of the Taipei City Government for costs overruns claiming to have resulted from the latter failing to provide the necessary infrastructure to build the line. Subsequently, the company pulled out of the operation of the line in 1994.Chen Shui Bian, then Mayor of Taipei declared that progress and operation of the line would continue despite the walkout in the now-popular catchphrase "馬特拉不拉，我們自己拉" (lit: If Matra doesn't pull, we'd pull it ourselves). After a 12-year-long legal tussle, in 2005, Matra was awarded NT$1.6 billion (approx. US$50 million) in damages by the Supreme Court of the Republic of China.