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 shaken 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. 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. Services on the Wenshan line began with two-car operation of the VAL 256 coupled together. Eventually, increasing patronage on the system led to operation in four-car configurations. The opening of
Maokong Gondola in 2007 have also boosted passenger numbers travelling on the line to Taipei Zoo for transfer. The Wenshan line is connected to the Neihu Line, which opened in July 2009. It connects to
Neihu and
Taipei Songshan Airport, which currently has no rapid transit access. Since an alternative contractor
Bombardier was awarded to supply the rolling stock and the signaling system for the new line, the Wenshan line's signaling system was converted to suit the new
communications-based train control (CBTC)
CITYFLO 650 to allow both the old Matra rolling stock and the new Bombardier rolling stock to run in co-existence. On 19 December 2010, fifty-one pairs of retrofitted
VAL 256's (from the Matra rolling stock) will begin testing on the entire line. After over half a year of testing, the additional trains will decrease the time between trains at rush hour from 2 minutes to 72 seconds and bring the total number of trains operating on the line to 152 pairs. The initial cost estimate of the elevated line was
NT$42.6 billion, but due to delays the price-adjusted cost estimate rose to over NT$60.3 billion. A shift to underground construction would have increased the cost to as high as NT$134.4 billion. However, the Central Government stated that if construction for the Neihu line did not start immediately, they would withhold the grant money for the line. In addition, due to the narrow streets and numerous turns in Neihu, construction of an underground high-capacity line would have been infeasible. Thus, the plan to build an elevated line continued after much delay. The line was initially planned to begin service in 1996, and after 13 years of delay, the line finally began operations. However, the Neihu line has been criticised for its frequent malfunctions and safety issues. • 28 June 2008: Construction of the Neihu line is completed. • 19 December 2010: Retrofitted VAL 256 cars begin testing on the Brown line. It is expected to decrease waits between trains and increase line capacity. == Rolling stock ==