President Ma Ying-jeou previously expressed his hope that travel time between Taipei and Taoyuan on the airport MRT line can be limited to under 25 minutes, but the Ministry of Transportation and Communications responded that, at this stage of construction, it would be extremely difficult to meet that goal by making changes in railway system or route design. So the current plan still stands, with a travel time slightly longer than the president's expectation.

On June 6th, President Ma Ying-jeou announced a target travel time of 25 minutes between Taipei and Taoyuan on the MRT airport line.

In recent weeks, the Bureau of High Speed Rail has considered altering the current route and system to meet the president's goal.

However, plans to eliminate the Wugu and Linkou stops have been met with opposition from the public and both Xin Bei City mayor candidates.

After Ma said that he would respect the decision of experts, the BOHSR said that a comprehensive assessment estimates that the trip will take 33 minutes.

Some say that airport MRT planners created an indirect route full of detours to spur growth in undeveloped areas, but that a 33-minute trip is acceptable.