How to spell confusion
The Banqiao-Tucheng extension of the MRT is supposed to open at the end of this month. All the station entrances are now finished. It is interesting to note the signage that is used on the stations. The MRT, being based in Taipei City, uses Hanyu Pinyin for the romanisation of station names. However, Banqiao and Tucheng are in Taipei County where Tongyong Pinyin is the official romanisation system. The result is that the signs on the new stations show the name of the station in Hanyu Pinyin with Tongyong Pinyin in brackets.
As if that isn't confusing enough the other two stations in Banqiao, which opened several years ago only use Hanyu Pinyin. Hence the signs at Xinpu Station only say "Xinpu", not "Xinpu (Sinpu)" and similarly "Jiangzicui" not "Jiangzicui (Jiangzihcuei)". Contrast this with Fuzhong Station where the signs read "Fuzhong (Fujhong)" and Banqiao where the signs read "MRT Banqiao (Banciao) Station".
Xinpu MRT Station sign
Banqiao MRT Station sign
Fuzhong MRT Station sign
The next station on the line is the Far Eastern Hospital which has its name written in English rather than Pinyin (there is a difference that many people simply don't appreciate). The stations in Tucheng don't suffer from the problem as their names are spelt the same in both Hanyu and Tongyong Pinyin. The stations in Tucheng are Haishan, Tucheng and Yongning.
UPDATE: I was at Banqiao Station again today and I noticed that some of the other entrances have signs that read differently to the "MRT Banqiao (Banciao) Station" one that I photographed. One reads "Banqiao Station" and another "MRT Banqiao Station". (7 May 2006)
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Posted: May 4th, 2006 under Languages in Taiwan, New Taipei City, Transport.
Tags: banqiao, mrt, pinyin and romanisation, trains and railways
Comments
Comment from David
Time 5 May 2006 at 8:06 am
Mark, the photos were actually taken from street level. Unfortunately I don’t have a special pass to get access to the stations. It will be interesting to see whether the Hanyu (Tongyong) Pinyin system is used inside the stations as well.
Comment from Taffy
Time 5 May 2006 at 9:35 am
As for having both systems used inside the station, Nanshijiao has signs inside that point to the Xingnan (Singnan) Rd exit. Also, I’m sure some of the Xindian stations use this double romanization like your Fuzhang example. The TRTC website currently uses both systems to romanize street names in Taipei County. Here’s hoping that it disappears fast!
Comment from Mark S.
Time 4 May 2006 at 7:02 pm
As you know, Tongyong’s days in Taipei County are numbered.
Last week I spoke with someone with the MRT about this. She said that the station names and maps still carried Tongyong because Taipei County hadn’t made the switch official yet. But this isn’t a place where things happen quickly, so I’ll be surprised if months if not years pass before the Tongyong disappears.
I suspect the reason that the previous Banqiao, Xindian, and Nanshijiao-area signs don’t have Tongyong is that system wasn’t official here in Taipei County when the stations opened. After all, it wasn’t until a year or two ago that Tongyong signs started appearing on some streets in Xindian and Banqiao. But I don’t know the reason for sure.
P.S.: Nice photos, David. How’d you get in there so soon?