Getting Around Taipei: MRT Lines, EasyCard, Passes and Airport Trains

Taipei Metro’s lines are colour-coded and every station has a code (R10, BL12) that matches the signs, maps and announcements in Mandarin, English, Taiwanese and Hakka. Four lines carry nearly all visitor trips.

• Red Line (Tamsui-Xinyi, R): the tourist spine. North from Taipei Main Station it runs to Zhongshan (cafes, department stores), Jiantan for Shilin Night Market, Shilin for buses to the National Palace Museum, Beitou (change for the one-stop Xinbeitou branch to the hot springs) and Tamsui at the river mouth. South it serves Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dongmen for Yongkang Street, Da’an Park, Taipei 101/World Trade Center for Taipei 101 and Xiangshan, the trailhead for Elephant Mountain.
• Blue Line (Bannan, BL): east-west through Banqiao, Longshan Temple for Lungshan Temple, Ximen for Ximending, Taipei Main Station, Zhongxiao Fuxing and Zhongxiao Dunhua (shopping), Taipei City Hall (Xinyi’s malls) and Nangang, where HSR and TRA trains also stop.
• Green Line (Songshan-Xindian, G): Songshan station at its eastern end is beside Raohe Night Market; it also serves Beimen for Dadaocheng and Dihua Street, Ximen, Gongguan (university district) and Xindian for Bitan.
• Brown Line (Wenhu, BR): driverless, elevated, short four-car trains. Runs from Taipei Zoo station (the zoo and the Maokong Gondola) through Da’an and Zhongxiao Fuxing to Songshan Airport and Neihu.

The Orange Line (Zhonghe-Xinlu, O) helps for Xingtian Temple, Dongmen and Daqiaotou on Dadaocheng’s north side. The Yellow Circular Line and the Danhai and Ankeng light rail lines serve New Taipei suburbs; the Danhai LRT from Hongshulin on the Red Line is the way to Tamsui’s Fisherman’s Wharf without the long walk. Trains run from about 6am to midnight, every 3 to 6 minutes at peak and 6 to 12 minutes late at night; check the last train from your station on the platform screens.

Fares are by distance: NT$20 for short hops up to NT$65 for the longest ride across the network. Most trips inside central Taipei cost NT$20 to NT$35; Taipei Main Station to Taipei 101 is NT$25 and to Tamsui NT$50. Single-journey tokens, round blue plastic discs, come from machines that take coins and notes; you tap the token on entry and drop it in the slot on exit.

Most visitors use a stored-value card. The EasyCard costs NT$100 for a plain card (special designs a little more), comes with no credit on it, and is sold at every MRT station counter and at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Hi-Life. Top it up with cash at station machines or convenience-store tills. iPASS and icash cards work the same way on the Taipei MRT and buses, so if you arrive with an iPASS from Kaohsiung, keep using it. The card also pays for city and intercity buses, YouBike, TRA local trains, the Maokong Gondola, convenience stores, many cafes and some taxis. Leftover balance can be refunded at an MRT information counter, but the card fee is not.

The gates also accept contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards plus Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, charging the same fare as a token. Check your bank’s foreign-transaction fee, and note that card taps do not count towards Taipei Metro’s frequent-rider cashback (5 to 15 percent back for 11 or more rides a month on a stored-value card), which matters only for long stays.

Etiquette is strict and enforced. Eating, drinking (including water) and chewing gum are banned past the gates, with fines of NT$1,500 to NT$7,500. Queue at the marked lines on the platform, leave the dark-blue priority seats free, and stand on the right on escalators.

Taipei Metro sells several unlimited-ride passes at station information counters (official prices from Taipei Metro):

Do the maths for a typical sightseeing day: Taipei Main Station to Lungshan Temple (NT$20), on to CKS Memorial Hall (NT$20), to Taipei 101 (NT$20), up to Raohe via Songshan (NT$25) and back to your hotel (NT$25) comes to about NT$110. That is NT$40 less than the One-Day Pass, so a stored-value card wins. Passes start to pay when you add long rides (Tamsui, Beitou, Banqiao) and bus hops, or travel all day with no walking between nearby sights.

The Taipei Fun Pass attraction versions bundle transport with entry tickets: the 1-day Unlimited Pass is NT$1,300 and the 2-day and 3-day Unlimited Passes NT$1,700 and NT$1,800, including the Taipei 101 observatory, the National Palace Museum, the Shilin Residence and more. The Classic Version at NT$950 is an EasyCard plus Taipei 101 (NT$600 alone) and the National Palace Museum (NT$350 alone), so it saves roughly the price of the card. The unlimited versions pay off only if you hit three or four paid attractions a day. Inclusions change, so check the list on the Fun Pass site before buying.

Taoyuan International (TPE), 40 km west of the city, is linked by the Taoyuan Airport MRT, a separate line from Taipei Metro with its own purple-and-blue trains. Both trains cost NT$160 ($5.20) from Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 to Taipei Main Station (station A1, a five-minute walk underground to the MRT and TRA concourse). The express (purple) stops only at a few stations and takes about 35 minutes to Terminal 1 and a few more to Terminal 2, every 15 minutes; the commuter train (blue) stops everywhere and takes about 50 minutes. Trains run from about 6am to around 11:30pm; pay with an EasyCard, buy a token from the machines in the arrivals hall, or use the joint tickets above. Several airlines offer in-town check-in at A1 Taipei Main Station, so you can drop bags hours before an evening flight; check with your airline.

After the last train, Kuo-Kuang bus 1819 runs through the night from both terminals to Taipei Main Station in about an hour (around NT$150), and other routes serve Xinyi, Zhongshan and Songshan. A taxi to central Taipei takes 45 to 60 minutes and costs roughly NT$1,200 to NT$1,500 on the meter; the Taoyuan rank is well organised.

Taipei Songshan (TSA) is the city airport, used by flights to Tokyo Haneda, Seoul Gimpo, Shanghai Hongqiao and the outlying islands. Songshan Airport station on the Brown Line is outside the terminal door: Zhongxiao Fuxing is about 10 minutes and Taipei Main Station about 25 minutes with one change, for NT$25 to NT$30. Taxis carry a NT$50 surcharge from the airport rank.

City buses fill the gaps the MRT leaves: Red 30 and routes 255 and 304 from Shilin station to the National Palace Museum (about 15 minutes), the 260 from Taipei Main Station and Red 5 from Jiantan up to Yangmingshan, where the 108 park shuttle loops past the trailheads for Qixing Mountain. A segment costs NT$15; tap your card when you board, and on longer routes tap again when you get off (the sign by the driver shows which, and tapping twice never hurts). Stops have English names on screens and in announcements. Google Maps shows routes and live arrivals, and the Bus+ app is better for the bus-only network.

YouBike 2.0 docks sit outside nearly every MRT exit. Rides cost NT$10 per 30 minutes for the first four hours, then NT$20 and NT$40 per 30 minutes. Registered members in Taipei City get the first 30 minutes free, but registration needs a Taiwanese phone number. Visitors use the Single Rental option in the YouBike app with a credit card, which puts a NT$3,000 hold on the card (released when you return the bike) and does not get the free half-hour. Pedal the riverside paths along the Tamsui River from Dadaocheng Wharf towards Guandu and Tamsui; on city streets, ride on the pavement where bike lanes are marked and watch for scooters.

Taxis are yellow, metered and honest: NT$85 for the first 1.25 km and NT$5 per 200 m after that, plus NT$20 from 11pm to 6am and more over Lunar New Year. Ximending to Taipei 101 runs NT$250 to NT$350. Most drivers speak little English, so show the address in Chinese. Uber operates legally with taxi-licensed drivers, and the 55688 Taiwan Taxi app and LINE Taxi let you book and pay by card.

The Maokong Gondola climbs 4 km from beside Taipei Zoo station (Brown Line) over the Taipei Zoo and two intermediate stations to Maokong’s tea houses in about 25 minutes. Full-fare tickets are NT$180 per person per trip and a One-Day Pass is NT$300, with the glass-floored Eyes of Crystal cabins NT$50 extra each way (official Maokong Gondola fares). Lower fares apply to children aged 6 to 12 and seniors, and children under 6 ride free. If you are also riding the MRT that day, the Fun Pass 1-day Transportation (Maokong Gondola) at NT$400 covers a gondola return and unlimited trains and buses.

It runs 9am to 9pm on weekdays and to 10pm on weekends and holidays. It normally closes on Mondays for maintenance, except the first Monday of the month and national holidays, and stops in high winds, thunderstorms and typhoons. Go on a weekday afternoon and ride down after dark for the city lights; weekend queues at the zoo end can pass an hour.

Taipei Main Station is the hub for everything outside the city: the MRT Red and Blue lines, the Airport MRT, Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR), Taiwan Railway (TRA) and the Taipei Bus Station next door.

• HSR: standard reserved seats cost about NT$700 to Taichung (about 1 hour), NT$1,350 to Tainan and NT$1,490 to Zuoying for Kaohsiung (1 hour 35 minutes on the fastest trains). Book on the T Express app or at machines; non-reserved cars are cheaper and early-bird fares up to 35 percent off are released about four weeks ahead. Foreign visitors can buy discounted HSR passes from authorised sellers.
• TRA: the Puyuma and Taroko expresses to Hualien for Taroko Gorge take about 2 to 2.5 hours for NT$440 and sell out at weekends, so book on the TRA app. Local trains to Keelung take 40 to 50 minutes and you can simply tap an EasyCard.
• Pingxi Line: take a TRA train to Ruifang (40 to 60 minutes), then the Pingxi branch line to Shifen (waterfall and lantern releases over the tracks), Pingxi and Jingtong. A Pingxi Line one-day pass from the Ruifang counter (about NT$80) covers unlimited hops on the branch. Trains run about hourly, so check the timetable before you set out. Bus 795 from Muzha MRT station is the alternative.
• Jiufen: bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing (exit 1) takes 70 to 90 minutes for about NT$100 and goes on to Jinguashi; or take the train to Ruifang and a 15-minute local bus or taxi up the hill. On weekends, go early or late, because the return queues at Jiufen Old Street can reach an hour. Bus 1815 from Taipei Main Station runs to Yehliu on the north coast.

Google Maps handles Taipei transit well, with platforms, exits, fares and live bus arrivals. The official Taipei Metro Go app adds station maps with every exit, lift and toilet, plus first and last trains. Add YouBike, T Express for HSR, the TRA booking app, Uber or 55688, and Bus+ if you will ride a lot of buses. Free Taipei Free Wi-Fi hotspots cover MRT stations, but an eSIM or local SIM from the airport counters is more reliable.

Large suitcases are allowed on the MRT but are awkward at rush hour (7:30am to 9am and 5:30pm to 7pm); coin lockers are in the bigger stations, and Taipei Main Station also has a luggage storage service. Accessibility is good: every MRT station has lifts from street to platform, wide gates and tactile paving, staff will help with ramps, and low-floor buses are common, though older buses still have steps. Pavements are less friendly, with steps, scooters and covered arcades at uneven heights. Prams are fine on trains; fold them on buses.

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