The Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) Station is one of six stations of the Taiwan HSR System--the first major build, operate and transfer (BOT) project in Taiwan. The entire system has a total cost of approximately U.S. $16 billion.

Taoyuan HSR Station is located in the middle of the Taoyuan HSR Special District, which is a new 490-hector (1,200-acre) planned urban development area with residential, business, commercial and civil services facilities. The station is the first stop south of Taipei Main Station, the north terminal of the Taiwan HSR System. It is the only one of the six stations that is underground. Its entrance hall, operation management center and parking tower are all above the ground.

As a member of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) Taoyuan Station design team under the direction of the THSCR1, PB participated in the management for Taoyuan Station architectural design, including transportation planning and urban design review. Haigo Shen International Engineering Consultants is the prime consultant responsible for Taoyuan Station design, RMJM was responsible for the concept design, and Asian Technical Consultants was responsible for the transportation planning.
Intermodal Services

Taoyuan HSR Station (Figure 1) provides fast, comfortable and safe service for passengers traveling from Taoyuan City, Chung Li City and CKS International Airport to the rest of the West Region of Taiwan. It serves the northern part of Taiwan through its various intermodal transfer facilities, including buses, taxi, kiss-and-ride, park-and-ride, and the future Taoyuan County MRT System. Access roads are located along the THSR alignment at both the north and south sides of the station for the convenience of passengers coming from either direction.

Bus terminal, taxi and kiss-and-ride areas are located at the four corners of the station entrance hall to provide a shorter transfer access. A future MRT Blue Line will come in parallel to and on the south of HSR Station. Two inner cross roads connect two kiss-and-ride areas, serve the Operation Management Center, including the Taoyuan HSR Operation Control Center, and serve as turn-arounds. Canopies provide weather protection for passengers.

Several Challenges are Met

Taoyuan HSR Station intermodal transfer facilities were designed to maximize efficiency and flexibility to meet uncertain future conditions, and minimize the initial construction cost. In the process, we addressed several interesting issues.

Differing Requirements. The City Planning Regulations requirements for the intermodal transfer were 1430 car parking spaces, 1540 motorcycle parking spaces, and a bus terminal of 5250 m² (56,700 square feet).

HSR operation requirements, however, which were based on the patronage forecast demand, were for:

• 1088 car parking spaces and motorcycle parking spaces
  
  
• 140 m (460 feet) of car and taxi drop-off and car pick-up space
  
  
• 343 m (more than 1,100 feet) of taxi pick-up space
  
  
• 9 bus bay terminals
  
  
• 6 bus bays along the roadway curb.

The most significant differences between the two sets of requirements were the numbers of car parking and motorcycle parking spaces.

Taoyuan HSR Station intermodal transfer facilities must satisfy the planning requirements of City Planning regulations in order to be granted the needed Urban Design Review Approval and meet the projected passenger demand needs. The THSRC Taoyuan Station design team developed a phasing plan that will meet the City Planning requirements in the ultimate intermodal design. In the first phase, however, the initial operation requirements will be met, thus bringing down the first phase construction cost.

The Impact of Future Construction on HSR Operations. In consideration of minimizing the interference of future construction on station operations while keeping initial construction costs down, the THSRC Taoyuan Station design team planned the first phase construction to include completion of all surface facilities, including:

• The bus terminal facilities with large canopies for passenger-waiting and bus-operation spaces, such as ticketing and offices
  
  
• Two kiss-and-ride areas, passenger drop off areas, and taxi waiting and passenger pick-up areas
  
  
• Four of the six floors of the park-and-ride facilities. The elevators and center exit stairway of the parking structure are provided for all six floors, however, to simplify the future addition of the two final floors.

Figure 1: Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station, Taiwan's only underground intermodal facility.

Number of Motorcycle Parking Spaces. Since the City Planning Requirements were established more than a decade ago, car motorists have increased at a much faster rate than motorcyclists and, in fact, there are now more cars on the road than motorcycles around the Taoyuan Station areas. In the Urban Planning Committee Review, the THSRC Taoyuan Station design team demonstrated to Committee members that, given the future growth projections, the possibility of having 1,540 passengers riding motorcycles to the HSR station is very small. Subsequently, we developed a more flexible plan that has been adopted in the Urban Design Review.

In the ultimate plan, total motorcycle parking spaces will meet urban planning regulation requirements. For the initial construction, however, 578 motorcycle parking spaces are provided on the concourse level, which is part of the station space above the trackway. This number of spaces meets HSR operation requirements. The additional 962 motorcycle parking spaces located on the 1st floor level and on ground were deferred for future construction.

Impact of Delay of Future MRT Operations. The future MRT system that will connect Taoyuan HSR Station to Taoyuan City and CKS Airport is scheduled to be completed and in operation by 2008. Until now, however, the MRT alignment has not been finalized, and the station is not likely to meet the 2008 opening date. Additional capacity in other modes of transport must be provided to accommodate the projected transfer load to and from the MRT system when it becomes operational. In order to avoid making any major changes to the design (which is based on the MRT being operational) for this short-term situation, the THSRC Taoyuan Station design team provided additional bus bays in the bus terminal and along roadsides for the potential MRT transfers who are usually public transportation users. We also made provisions for expansions to the taxi waiting and boarding areas.

Provisions for Future MRT Connection. Provisions are provided on the ground level for MRT passengers connecting to HSR, buses and to future business development north of HSR Station. The THSRC Taoyuan Station design team also provided knock-out panels on the concourse level for possible future MRT Blue Line underground connections.

Identification of Types of Intermodal Facilities. The THSRC Taoyuan Station design team provided special features and color-coded signs for easy identification of each type of the intermodal transfer facilities located at the four corners of the Station Entrance Hall.

Impact to Regional Through Traffic. The Taoyuan HSR Station access roads serve as thoroughfares, so the team located the six-level parking tower on the end with one-side through traffic only in order to minimize the impact on the through traffic flow.

Conclusion

The Taoyuan HSR Station design is one of the most challenging design projects in the Taiwan High Speed Rail System. It is the only underground station that provides for transfers to various transportation modes. The design has resolved the facility part of the intermodal transfer facilities; however, a set operation plans is now required to carry out each function of the facilities.