Ximen metro station

Ximen 西門
Taipei metro station
Platform
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	西門
showTranscriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīmén Bopomofo ㄒㄧ ㄇㄣˊ
General information
Location	B1F 32-1 Baoqing Rd Zhongzheng and Wanhua, Taipei Taiwan
Coordinates	25°02′32″N 121°30′30″E / 25.0422°N 121.5083°E / 25.0422; 121.5083Coordinates: 25°02′32″N 121°30′30″E / 25.0422°N 121.5083°E / 25.0422; 121.5083
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Bicycle facilities	Access available
Other information
Station code	G12, BL11
Website	web.metro.taipei/e/stationdetail2010.asp?ID=BL11+G12-086
History
Opened	1999-12-24[1]
Key dates
2000-08-31	Service to CKS Memorial Hall opened
2014-11-15	Songshan–Xindian line added
Passengers
2016	131,836 daily (December 2020)[2]  2.2%
Rank	(Ranked 2nd of 109)
Services
Preceding station Taipei Metro Following station Xiaonanmen towards Xindian or Taipower Building Songshan–Xindian line Beimen towards Songshan Longshan Temple towards Dingpu or Far Eastern Hospital Bannan line Taipei Main Station towards Nangang Exhib Center or Kunyang

Ximen (Chinese: 西門; pinyin: Xīmén, West Gate Station, formerly transliterated as Hsimen Station until 2003) is a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan served by Taipei Metro.^[3] The station is named after the former west gate of the city, whose location is roughly where the current station is located.

Station overview[]

Platform 2 in 2008

The station is a three-level,^[4] underground structure with two island platforms and six exits, allowing possible connections to the shopping areas and Diary of Ximen hotel.^[5] The two platforms are stacked, thus allowing for cross-platform interchange between Green Line and Blue Line. Washrooms are inside the entrance area. In November 2010, the daily ridership at Ximen station was 112,000,^[6] making it the fourth busiest station on the network, just behind Taipei Main Station, Taipei City Hall and Zhongxiao Fuxing station.

It is situated under Zhonghua Rd, at the intersection of Chengdu Rd, Hengyang Rd, and Baoqing Rd. The station is also connected to the Ximen Intelligent Library (an unmanned branch of the Taipei Public Library).

Exit 6 is heavily used by those accessing the Ximending shopping area. The exit opening is set at the top of the pedestrian zone, although there is still vehicular traffic in that area. The station is often crowded on weekends, especially in the afternoon.

Station layout[]

Street Level	Ground Level	Entrance/Exit
B1	Concourse	Lobby, toilets, one-way ticket machine, information desk
		shops, ATM
B2	Platform 1	Bannan Line toward Nangang Exhib Center (BL12 Taipei Main Station) →
	Island platform, doors open on the right for Bannan Line, left for Songshan-Xindian Line
	Platform 2	Songshan–Xindian Line toward Songshan (G13 Beimen) →
B3	Platform 3	← Bannan Line toward Dingpu / Far Eastern Hospital (BL10 Longshan Temple)
	Island platform, doors open on the left for Bannan Line, right for Songshan-Xindian Line
	Platform 4	← Songshan–Xindian Line toward Xindian / Taipower Building (G11 Xiaonanmen)

History[]

During Japanese rule, a railway station at the current site was called Shinkichō Station (新起町乘降場) and opened on 5 November 1930. It was specifically for refueling and its location was roughly where the current MRT station is today.

After the war during post-war rebuilding, the station's name was changed to the current "Ximen". It was later closed due to illegal construction. An underground emergency station opened on 2 September 1987 as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project.

Ximen railway station used to be a station on the TRA Western Line. However, the underground area is nowadays only used as an emergency station and not open for revenue service.

Construction of Ximen MRT station started in 1995, and the station opened on 24 December 1999 for the Blue line. On 30 August 2000, a service to CKS Memorial Hall opened, which would later become the Songshan–Xindian line on 15 November 2014.

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ximen Station.