Mayor backs seat removal on Taipei’s Brown LineStaff writerTaipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Wednesday defended new subway cars for the Wenhu (Brown) Line that remove most seating in the hopes of increasing capacity on the perennially crowded line. The newly designed interior of a Wenhu (Brown) Line carriage on the Taipei MRT is pictured in an undated photograph. The design attracted criticism from some city councilors, who after trialing the new carriages on Wednesday said the design was unfriendly. The main reasons people cite for not wanting to ride the Brown Line aside from inconvenience is a lack of seating and crowding, she said, adding that the change would make people’s commute even less comfortable. She also questioned whether the carriages were tested for the increased weight, as the Brown Line was not designed for such high capacity.
