Settling in
How to get from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei: Airport MRT, buses, taxis and late-night arrivals
Most people get from Taoyuan Airport into Taipei on the Airport MRT, and the express train reaches Taipei Main Station in about 37 to 39 minutes for NT$160. This guide explains how the express and commuter trains differ, whether your EasyCard or TPASS works, how to catch a bus or a taxi, and what to do if you land late at night or early in the morning. It also shows how to change to the Taipei MRT for each of our houses.
Seal Co-living team Updated 14 min read Translated from Chinese · 中文原文
On this page
- How do you ride the Airport MRT? Express and commuter trains compared
- How much is the Airport MRT, and do EasyCard, credit cards and TPASS work?
- How do you change to the Taipei MRT at Taipei Main Station?
- Too much luggage to change trains? Buses and taxis
- What if you land late at night or early in the morning?
- Arriving at Songshan Airport
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
The short version:
- Through customs before 11 at night, with a bag or two: take the Airport MRT to A1 Taipei Main Station. The express train takes about 37 to 39 minutes and a full fare is NT$160. Tap an EasyCard or a contactless credit card at the gate and walk through.
- Lots of luggage, or you'd rather not change trains at Taipei Main Station: take a bus to the bus station closest to where you're staying, or just join the taxi queue.
- Already past 23:35 when you get out: the Airport MRT has stopped running to Taipei for the night. Kuo-Kuang bus 1819 runs to Taipei Bus Station all night, and airport taxis wait at the rank 24 hours a day.
- Staying on the green line (Songshan-Xindian Line): leave Airport MRT A1 and walk to Beimen Station. There's no need to double back to the Taipei MRT's Taipei Main Station.
How do you ride the Airport MRT? Express and commuter trains compared
Once you have your bags, walk out into the arrivals hall and follow the Airport MRT signs down. At Terminal 1 an escalator takes you to B2. At Terminal 2 you can use the escalators or the lifts to reach B2. Note the station numbers while you're at it, since you'll need them for the timetable: Terminal 1 is A12 and Terminal 2 is A13.
Two kinds of train pull into the platform. The express has purple trim along both sides and the word EXPRESS on it, and it stops only at Taipei Main Station (A1), New Taipei Industrial Park (A3), Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (A8) and the two airport terminals. The commuter train has blue trim, says COMMUTER and stops at every station. They take turns, and the airport's website puts the gap at about 7.5 minutes, which means an express comes along roughly every 15 minutes. Express seats have USB charging ports, and every car on both trains has luggage racks.
| Express train | Commuter train | |
|---|---|---|
| Stops | A1, A3, A8, A12, A13 | Every station |
| Airport to Taipei Main Station | About 37 to 39 min | About 51 to 53 min |
| First train to Taipei | A13 05:55, A12 05:58 | A13 06:04, A12 06:07 |
| Last train to Taipei | A13 22:55, A12 22:58 | A13 23:35, A12 23:37 |
These travel times are the airport website's figures for the trip from the airport stations to Taipei Main Station. From Terminal 1, go by the lower number.
Take a second look at the timetable if you're catching the last train from Terminal 2. After the last commuter train has left, the A13 timetable still lists 23:52, 00:07 and 00:22, so it looks as if more trains are coming. They're extra services heading for the airport, though. They stop at Terminal 1 and never go to Taipei. At that hour, check where a train is going before you step on.
How much is the Airport MRT, and do EasyCard, credit cards and TPASS work?
A full fare from A12 or A13 to Taipei Main Station is NT$160. Cash, transport cards and credit cards are all accepted. What changes is whether you have to buy a ticket before you go through the gate.
- Single-trip ticket: pay cash at a ticket machine or the information counter. It's valid only on the day you buy it.
- EasyCard, iPASS or icash2.0: tap once going in and once coming out. If you don't have one yet, Airport MRT stations sell the standard EasyCard. The card itself is NT$100, you must load at least NT$100 when you buy it, and they take cash only.
- Contactless credit or debit card: VISA, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards with the contactless symbol work, and so do Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay on your phone. Just hold it to the gate and you're charged the full fare. Taipei Metro takes contactless cards too, so the same card gets you all the way to the station near your place.
When people here say TPASS, they mean the monthly pass for Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan (基北北桃都會通). It costs NT$1,200 and lasts 30 consecutive days, counting from the day you first tap it. You can ride the Airport MRT, Taipei Metro and city buses in Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan on it, and intercity buses into Taipei such as routes 1819, 1960 and 1843 are on the list as well. The pass can only go on an EasyCard. You can buy it at the information counter or the card machines in Airport MRT stations; the one exception is the information counter at A20 Xingnan Station, which doesn't sell it.
Whether it's worth buying depends on how often you'll ride in the next month. If you'll commute every day, buy it at the airport before going through the gate, and the trip into town already counts toward your 30 days. If you'll only ride now and then, paying trip by trip comes out cheaper. For the details on EasyCard and TPASS, read New to Taipei? How to get around by MRT, bus, YouBike, TPASS and taxi.
How do you change to the Taipei MRT at Taipei Main Station?
The names match, but the Airport MRT's A1 Taipei Main Station and the Taipei MRT's Taipei Main Station are not in the same place. Taoyuan Metro's website says the walk from A1 to the Bannan Line and the Tamsui-Xinyi Line takes about 10 to 15 minutes. If you need the Songshan-Xindian Line (green line), walk to Beimen Station instead, which takes about as long. Pulling two suitcases, you'll find it's further than it looks on the map.
From Taipei Main Station (or Beimen), use the table below to reach the MRT station closest to each Seal Co-living house. "On the train" means only the time the train is moving, so waiting and changing trains aren't included. Fares are Taipei Metro single-trip full fares, and the Airport MRT leg is paid separately.
| House | Nearest MRT station | How to get there | On the train | Taipei Metro fare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CityHall House | Taipei City Hall Station (Bannan Line), about a 2-minute walk | From Taipei Main Station, Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, no change | 10 min | NT$20 |
| Houshanpi House | Houshanpi Station (Bannan Line), about a 6-minute walk | From Taipei Main Station, Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, no change | 14 min | NT$25 |
| Songshan House | Houshanpi Station (Bannan Line), about a 4-minute walk | From Taipei Main Station, Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, no change | 14 min | NT$25 |
| Kunyang House | Kunyang Station (Bannan Line), about a 2-minute walk | From Taipei Main Station, Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, no change | 16 min | NT$25 |
| Guangci House | Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station (Tamsui-Xinyi Line), about a 6-minute walk | From Taipei Main Station, Tamsui-Xinyi Line toward Guangci/Fengtian Temple, to the end of the line | 18 min | NT$25 |
| Songlong House | Songshan Station (Songshan-Xindian Line), about a 4-minute walk | Walk from A1 to Beimen, then Songshan-Xindian Line toward Songshan, to the end of the line | 13 min | NT$25 |
| Gongguan House | Gongguan Station (Songshan-Xindian Line), about a 3-minute walk | Walk from A1 to Beimen, then Songshan-Xindian Line toward Xindian. Or take the Tamsui-Xinyi Line from Taipei Main Station and change at C.K.S. Memorial Hall (NT$20) | 11 min | NT$25 |
Before you board, check where the train ends. Some Tamsui-Xinyi Line trains turn back at Daan and never reach Guangci/Fengtian Temple. The Songshan-Xindian Line also has trains that terminate at Taipower Building, one stop short of Gongguan, so for Gongguan you want a train bound for Xindian. The Bannan Line is the easy one: every eastbound train passes Taipei City Hall, Houshanpi and Kunyang.
Add it up and the time spent on trains alone comes to about 40 minutes on the Airport MRT express and 10 to 18 minutes on the Taipei MRT, with the walk from A1 to the Taipei MRT in between. Waiting, changing and the walk home from the station all come on top.
Too much luggage to change trains? Buses and taxis
These buses run into Taipei City. We matched the terminal names against the airport website and the A12 station page on Taoyuan Metro's site, and the travel times are the airport website's.
| Route | Terminal stop | Travel time (airport website) |
|---|---|---|
| Kuo-Kuang 1819 | Taipei Bus Station (via Zhongshan N. Rd.) | About 55 min |
| Citiair Bus (大有巴士) 1960 | Taipei City Hall Bus Station | About 60 to 70 min |
| Kuo-Kuang 1843 | Nangang Bus Station (West), via MRT Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center | About 80 min |
| Kuo-Kuang 1840 | Songshan Airport | About 50 min |
The bus is slower than the Airport MRT. In return, your big suitcases go in the hold and you ride all the way to the bus station without hauling them through a transfer. If you're staying at one of our houses along the Bannan Line, have a look at the 1960, which ends at Taipei City Hall Bus Station. For times and fares, enter the route number on Taiwan's highway bus real-time information site (taiwanbus.tw), or ask at the bus ticket counters in the airport.
Airport taxis are there 24 hours a day. At Terminal 1 the rank is at Door 12, on the west side of the 1F arrivals hall. At Terminal 2 it's in the lane across from Door 26, also on the west side of the 1F arrivals hall. You pay what the meter shows, plus highway tolls, and the official airport taxi website estimates about NT$1,200 to 1,900 from the airport to Taipei City. That same website lists cash, credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and LINE Pay as ways to pay. Still, if you want to use a card or your phone, ask the driver before you get in.
Most cars seat 4 or 5 (there are also wheelchair-accessible taxis, which you can book by calling 03-398-2832). If your group and bags won't fit, the driver is allowed to refuse the ride. If there are three or four of you with a big suitcase each, tell the staff how many bags you have while you're in the queue, or split into two cars.
You can also take big suitcases on the Airport MRT. Taoyuan Metro's rule is no more than 165 cm on the longest side and no more than 220 cm for length, width and height added together. With a case that size, use the lift and don't try to squeeze onto the escalator.
What if you land late at night or early in the morning?
The last Airport MRT train to Taipei is a commuter train that leaves Terminal 2 at 23:35 and Terminal 1 at 23:37. Going by the airport website's travel times, it gets to A1 around 00:28. From there you still have more than 10 minutes on foot to the Taipei MRT, where the last trains leave at these times:
- Taipei Main Station: Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center 00:49, Tamsui-Xinyi Line toward Guangci/Fengtian Temple 00:45
- Beimen Station: Songshan-Xindian Line toward Songshan 00:44, toward Xindian 00:48
On paper, you can make the connection. In practice you have only a few minutes to spare, and a slow walk or one more wait for a lift could be enough to miss it.
After the last Airport MRT has gone, there's still the bus. Kuo-Kuang 1819 runs to Taipei Bus Station all night, starting at Terminal 2 and stopping at Terminal 1 next. On the timetable we checked on 9 October 2026, buses leave Terminal 2 at 23:30, 23:40 and 23:50, then from 00:20 one every 10 to 40 minutes right through to the morning. A full fare is NT$133 to 164, depending on the type of coach. Buses leaving from 00:20 onward get to Taipei after the MRT has closed, so you'll need a taxi from there to your place.
If you'd rather skip that second leg, take a taxi straight from the airport. From 00:00 to 06:00 every day, there's also a shared taxi service.
Landing early in the morning is easier. The first Airport MRT train to Taipei is an express, leaving Terminal 2 at 05:55 and Terminal 1 at 05:58. The Taipei MRT is already running by the time you reach Taipei Main Station, where the first train leaves at 06:00.
Already booked a room with Seal Co-living? As soon as your flight times are set, tell us on LINE (add us as a LINE friend) and we'll agree on how your move-in day will work. If you're arriving late at night, tell us sooner rather than later.
Arriving at Songshan Airport
If you fly into Taipei Songshan Airport, you're already in the city. From Songshan Airport Station, take the Wenhu Line (brown line) toward Taipei Zoo, and one change gets you to the station nearest each house.
| House | How to get there | On the train | Taipei Metro fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| CityHall House | Wenhu Line to Zhongxiao Fuxing, then Bannan Line toward Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center | 11 min | NT$25 |
| Houshanpi House, Songshan House | Same as above | 14 min | NT$25 |
| Kunyang House | Same as above | 17 min | NT$30 |
| Guangci House | Wenhu Line to Daan, then Tamsui-Xinyi Line toward Guangci/Fengtian Temple | 16 min | NT$30 |
| Songlong House | Wenhu Line to Nanjing Fuxing, then Songshan-Xindian Line toward Songshan | 11 min | NT$25 |
| Gongguan House | Wenhu Line to Nanjing Fuxing, then Songshan-Xindian Line toward Xindian | 22 min | NT$30 |
Every route in the table includes a change, so be on a train at Songshan Airport Station by 00:27 at the latest.
Once you've moved in, Your first month in Taipei: the order and deadlines for your ARC, phone, bank account and health insurance explains which errands to finish in your first month: your ARC (Alien Resident Certificate), a bank account and health insurance. For a phone number and mobile data, see How to get a phone number in Taiwan: prepaid SIM, eSIM or monthly plan, and the ID you need. If you've never lived with housemates before, read Getting the hang of co-living for the first time: getting along with housemates, shared spaces, and your first-week checklist before you move in.
Frequently asked questions
What's the fastest way from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei Main Station?
Take the Airport MRT express train. The ride from Terminal 1 or 2 to A1 Taipei Main Station takes about 37 to 39 minutes, and a full fare is NT$160. There's an express roughly every 15 minutes.
Can you use an EasyCard or a credit card on the Airport MRT?
Yes. EasyCard, iPASS and icash2.0 all work. So do VISA, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards with the contactless symbol, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay on your phone. Hold them to the gate and you're charged the full fare.
Can you ride the Airport MRT on TPASS?
Yes. The Keelung-Taipei-New Taipei-Taoyuan pass (NT$1,200 for 30 consecutive days) covers the Airport MRT, and Taipei Metro and airport buses such as the 1819, 1960 and 1843 are included too. It can only go on an EasyCard, and you can buy it at Airport MRT stations.
Is there still a way into Taipei if you get through customs after half past 11 at night?
Yes, just not by Airport MRT. The last Airport MRT train to Taipei is a commuter train, leaving Terminal 2 at 23:35 and Terminal 1 at 23:37. Kuo-Kuang bus 1819 runs to Taipei Bus Station all night, about every 10 to 40 minutes after 00:20. If you board a bus from 00:20 onward, though, the Taipei MRT will have closed by the time you get there, and you'll need a taxi for the last stretch. The least hassle is a taxi straight from the airport. They're at the rank 24 hours a day, and shared taxis run between 00:00 and 06:00.
How much is a taxi from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei?
The official airport taxi website estimates NT$1,200 to 1,900 to Taipei City. The meter decides the fare, and highway tolls are extra. What you actually pay depends on which part of the city you're going to.
Is the Airport MRT's Taipei Main Station the same as the Taipei MRT's?
No. From Airport MRT A1, it's about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Taipei MRT's Bannan Line and Tamsui-Xinyi Line. For the Songshan-Xindian Line, walk to Beimen Station instead, which takes about as long.
Sources
(All retrieved on 2026-10-09)
- 1.Taoyuan International Airport, Airport MRTtaoyuan-airport.com/Airport_MRT
- 2.Taoyuan International Airport, busestaoyuan-airport.com/buses
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- 4.Taoyuan International Airport, taxistaoyuan-airport.com/Taxi
- 5.Taoyuan Airport taxi service, fare estimatesairport.mobile.com.tw/tia-taxi-estimated-fares/
- 6.Taoyuan Airport taxi service, FAQairport.mobile.com.tw/faq/
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