The Taipei subway system, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has impressed many foreign visitors and residents with its cleanliness and services for people who do not speak Chinese but also surprised them with some of its guidelines.



The guidelines include "priority seats" for the elderly, pregnant women, people with babies and bans on eating or drinking in the trains.



The "priority seats" on Taipei Metro trains have a darker color than the rest and are often left empty even when a carriage is packed, confusing some overseas riders such as Aurelie from France, who has worked in Taiwan for over 10 years.



Aurelie, who declined to have her surname published, told CNA that the concept of "priority seats" does not exist in Paris' subway system.



Initially, she said, she shied away from sitting in priority seats when taking the subway in Taipei. She now uses them, but yields them when seniors or others who need the seat board the train.



Unsure that it was even necessary to set aside priority seats, she felt it would have been enough to simply encourage passengers to yield seats to the less mobile when necessary, especially as many Taiwanese riders already do so regardless of where they're sitting.



That willingness to yield seats is something not often seen in Paris and a part of Taipei's subway culture that has impressed her deeply, Aurelie said. Chinese student Yu Zelin, who is studying for a master's degree in Taipei, said he felt priority seats were like a "constraint" or a "spell" that stop people from using them, and he saw it as a "waste" to leave them empty.



"In mainland China, however, even if there were seats designated for priority passengers in subway trains, no one would want to yield them. It is the other end of the extreme," Yu said.



As for the ban on eating or drinking in trains or in MRT stations, Aurelie praised it as keeping the MRT system clean and free of bad odors, though she felt it a bit harsh that riders are not allowed to drink water.



Kako, a Japanese national who has also worked in Taipei for many years, recalled that when her friend from Japan took the Taipei subway for the first time, the friend started chewing gum while waiting for a train at a station.



She had to tell the friend that no food and beverages are allowed, and her friend quickly spit out her gum for fear of being fined, Kako said.



Yu said that all in all he prefers Taipei Metro trains when compared with those in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo. He said the speed at which they travel or the number of people in the trains are "just right."



Asked if there were any areas in which the system could improve, Yu replied after a pause that the Taipei Metro is currently treated as a transportation tool and could be given more features highlighting urban culture.



Since the metro system began service on March 28, 1996, it has expanded from a 10.5-kilometer-long elevated train line to a network of 131.1 km of elevated and underground lines serving 1.97 million riders a day as of the end of February, according to Taipei Rapid Transit Corp.