On any given Saturday afternoon, if residents of Taipei City desire to free themselves temporarily from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, many choose the fresh air and natural scenery of Maokong--formerly the largest tea-growing region in the city.
Located in the Muzha area of Wenshan District in the southernmost part of the city--also home to the Taipei Zoo, National Chengchi University and the Examination Yuan--Maokong is famous for a variety of Oolong tea, Apricot Woods and stunning night views of the city. Visitors come from all over the Taipei area to hike the numerous trails that wind their way past tea plantations, teahouses, temples and bamboo groves.
But in July this year, Taipei residents were given another incentive to spend even more time in the area--the Maokong Gondola, the nation's longest cable-car system running between Taipei Zoo and Maokong.
"The idea to construct a gondola system in the Maokong area is to improve traffic conditions and further boost the tourism and recreational potential," Chao Hsiung-fei, vice president of Taipei Rapid Transit Corp., said Nov. 23. Renown for its pine trees and peaceful sounds of nature, Maokong is equally notorious for its small, narrow roads, which are often plagued by traffic jams on the weekends. "Once the traffic problem is properly tackled, the whole area will accommodate more visitors with an uplift in the quality of the travel experience," Chao explained.
Construction of the gondola began in November 2005, with the entire system built and installed by Poma, a French company that specializes in gondolas, aerial chairlifts, and aerial tramways. The company has built over 7,700 installations in 73 countries around the globe. The 4.03-kilometer-long Maokong Gondola has four passenger stations, 25 piers, 47 towers, and is driven by two separate power systems. A round-trip journey takes about 40 minutes at an average speed of three to five meters per second.
"I'm not bragging when I say that our gondola is currently the most complicated in the world," Chao said, adding that similar systems in foreign countries usually follow straight lines. "Our cable has two angles, one is 15 degrees and the other 80.3 degrees. It is a one-of-a-kind."
The gondola system starts at the Taipei Zoo Station, proceeding to the Taipei Zoo South Station, the Zhinan Temple Station and with the Maokong Station as its final stop. The difference in vertical altitude between the starting station and the terminal station, Chao pointed out, is around 275 meters, due to the 299-meter hill where the gondola system has been built. He recalled that construction was extremely difficult, because in a bid to preserve the environment, no service roads were created for the project. Workers, therefore, had to shoulder tools weighing around 60 kilograms and climb the hill toward individual work sites. "Now that the project is finished, our technicians also have to climb the piers to perform scheduled maintenance, so all of them have now conquered their acrophobia," Chao laughed.
In addition to Maokong, there are some other places in Taiwan where people can ride gondolas, such as the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village in Nantou County and the Ocean Park in Hualien County. The Maokong Gondola, however, is the one with the largest cable-transportation capacity in the nation, with an ability to support a maximum of 144 gondolas at one time and 2,400 passengers hourly in one direction. The gondolas are made of aluminum and each holds eight people. "Our gondola system began operating on July 4," Chao said. "And by Nov. 21, over 1.7 million passengers have taken it, with around 15,000 passengers per day on average." He expects the milestone of 2 million passengers to be reached before the end of this year.
"The first impression of the Maokong Gondola I had was the long line of people waiting to buy a ticket," Brenda Chang, a NCCU graduate student who has taken the gondola several times, said Nov. 23. "Before boarding, I was a little afraid of the height, but after sitting inside the gondola, I found it so stable and smooth that I could focus all my attention on appreciating the scenic beauty and enjoying a sense of tranquility," she explained. "Taking regular rides on the gondola helps me think, so it has become one of my habits whenever study gets a little bit too much."
As the gondola system is extremely popular with tourists, particularly those coming from the central and southern part of the country, Chao stressed the importance of low-ticket prices. "From the very beginning, the goal of the gondola was to serve people," he said. A one-way ticket for the Maokong Gondola costs US$1.50, with a 20-percent discount for groups of 10 persons, and 30 percent for those with 40 persons. "Having the world's second-cheapest fare, however, did not stop us from turning a profit after four months of operations," Chao added, attributing the success to people's support and efficient management.
From the time when the Taipei City Government decided to construct the gondola system, TRTC was singled out as the ideal operator, mainly due to the company's outstanding management record of the metro system in Taipei, Chao said. According to data from the Railway Technology Strategy Center at Imperial College in London, TRTC was rated as the most reliable system among 25 members of the Nova International Railway Benchmarking Group and Community of Metros three years in a row, from 2004 to 2006. "Although we have never operated a gondola system before, the city government still entrusted us based on our past record," he added.
Under its management, TRTC has the Maokong Gondola working at peak capacity with the only downtime for regular maintenance every Monday. "Poma is impressed by our efficiency, particularly during the initial stage of operation," Chao said. In an Oct. 25 e-mail, Poma General Manager Jean Gauthier said that "we are pleased to confirm you have reached the best availability rate recorded to date, especially taking into consideration the high sophistication of this worldwide unique installation consisting of five successive sections." Despite this success, Chao believes there is still room for further improvement in terms of management.
Although the gondola system runs smoothly at present, "the most difficult problem we encounter is the weather," Chao explained, adding that the company takes strict precautions against Taiwan's unpredictable climatic conditions, such as high winds, lightning, thunderstorms, typhoons and earthquakes. Due to its elevation, the Maokong area is well known for frequent lightning strikes, especially in the afternoon. To tackle this problem, TRTC purchased a high-tech system used to detect lightning from Taiwan Power Co., the nation's largest electricity provider. "Passenger safety is our top priority," Chao said.
In fact, TRTC has left no stone unturned in its quest to guarantee passenger safety. Chao said that the company has established an emergency procedure that staff can apply to different situations if the need arises. For example, if the power supply shuts down and gondolas are suspended in the air, backup motors powered by generators ensure that passengers would be able to safely reach a station and exit. In addition, a fail-safe alarm will automatically suspend operations if any problems occur. "Most importantly, regular checkups and maintenance are vital," Chao stated, adding the heart of the gondola system--its haul cable--was shortened in October due to safety concern.
Similar to many passengers, Chang especially likes the package tour provided by TRTC, in which visitors can take the tourism bus to look around the entire Maokong area and then back to take the gondola. "It's really a blessing for metropolitan residents to enjoy such a precious placid moment without going too far," she said.
Write to Allen Hsu at allenhsu@mail.gio.gov.tw