Taipei Metro
Metro · Taipei · Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation
5 lines · 108 stations · 22 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
Quick facts
- Operator
- Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation operates Taipei Metro.
- Payment
- EasyCard is the default visitor answer because it works across metro, buses, convenience stores, and many regional rail trips.
- Taipei Metro also supports bank-card payment at designated gates, but EasyCard remains the cleaner all-purpose travel tool.
- EasyCardContactless
- Airport
- Taoyuan Airport is served by Taoyuan Airport MRT, a separate system that meets Taipei Metro at Taipei Main and other interchanges.
- Airport linkTaoyuan Metro
- Day trips
- Houtong, Shifen, and the Pingxi Line are TRA/regional-rail trips, the EasyCard habit still helps.
- Regional rail
- Network type
- A clean, legible, modern metro that makes Taipei feel much smaller than the map.
- MetroModern metro
Mike’s notes
Taipei is one of the easiest cities in Asia to do by metro. The system is clean, signed clearly, and dense enough that you rarely need a taxi unless the weather or luggage makes the decision for you.
How to pay
For most travelers, buy an EasyCard and load it. It works on Taipei Metro, buses, many convenience-store purchases, and the TRA train patterns you use for day trips like Houtong.
Taipei Metro now has bank-card payment at supported gates, which is useful for simple city rides. I would still use EasyCard if the trip includes buses, TRA, day trips, or convenience-store spending. It keeps Taiwan from becoming a ticket-by-ticket trip.
Airport split
For Taoyuan Airport, use Taoyuan Airport MRT into Taipei Main Station, then Taipei Metro/TRA from there. That distinction matters because Taipei Main is a rail maze the first time. Follow the color signs, not your sense of direction.
Network character
Taipei Metro is the kind of system you stop thinking about after the second ride. Stations are clean, transfers are logical, and the trains cover the city well enough that the food trip becomes easy: ride, eat, walk, repeat.
Short history
1996
Metro service begins
Taipei opens its first metro service, starting the rail network that now anchors daily city movement.
2000s
Network fills in
New radial and cross-city lines turn the MRT from a first corridor into the city's main movement system.
2017
Airport MRT opens
Taoyuan Airport MRT gives Taipei a dedicated airport rail link, separate from but connected to the city metro.