Taipei’s Metro system only began construction in 1988, but now has almost 90 stations and over 100km of track. All this comes at a price however, with Phase One of the system costing US$18 billion and Phase Two (currently under construction) estimated to cost US$13.8 billion upon completion.

Have we been there? No.

What we like: Nice diagrammatic representation – the stylised rivers are handled much better on this diagram than on the Tyne & Wear Metro, with the gradual thinning being very subtly done in most instances. Obvious distinction between transfer stations and regular ones.

What we don’t like: Station names get very close to the route lines in some places. Having bilingual names makes this difficult, but the placement seems inconsistent at times. Noting stations that link to the HSR and other mainline trains in the legend but not on the map is not very helpful: it took me a long time to locate Banqiao station (the secondary HSR station) or Songshan Airport station on the map. Icons located by the relevant stations on the map would work much better.

Our rating: A solid map, but not inspiring. Three stars.

Source: Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation website