Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC,
"Considering public perceptions and concerns, I suggest the launch ceremony scheduled for Dec. 7 be postponed," THSRC executive director Ou Chin-der (
"We regret the conclusion but respect the committee's decision and will do our best to meet the requirements," Ou said.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
On Tuesday, a high-speed railway inspection committee asked the THSRC to meet three terms and make improvements in 31 areas, including test the trains at intervals of less than 10 minutes for two weeks, complete a one month accident-free period following the minor accident that occurred last Friday, and integrate signaling systems with several other sub-systems.
The final call on the date of the launch ceremony, however, depends on THSRC's board, Ou said, adding that no date for a board meeting had been set. The official date for commercial operations, however, will be sometime next year, said Arthur Chiang (
Major issue
One major issue raised by the committee was the Independent Validation and Verification (IV&V) report conducted by Lloyd's Register Group.
The report identified 28 major defects to be improved on Nov. 4, but 21 of the defects had been resolved by Nov. 21.
The speed of this process triggered doubts among committee members.
Ou explained that THSRC had been working hard to rectify the indicated defects and sent the data to Lloyd's when the work was completed. As an independent validation and verification institution, Lloyd's makes its judgments based on the advice of a group of professionals from various fields and will not be biased, Ou said.
When asked why the committee members still considered those defects a problem, Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Ho Nuan-hsuen (
Some members wanted to personally examine the problems, while others were fine with the test run records, Ho said.
Yang Yeong-bin (楊永斌), chairman of the inspection committee, said in a television interview that committee members complained that they had to collect data themselves to verify THSRC's statements.
Regarding the allegations that THSRC presented inaccurate Chinese translations of the IV&V report, Ho said that the company, the committee members and ministry officials had reached a consensus earlier that they would go by the original text, which was written in English.
Ho also said the ministry would hold the first supervisory meeting to plan the test run schedule for the following month.
The delay in operations will not heavily impact on THSRC's finances, as the company has a contingency plan, Chiang said, rejecting a Chinese-language media report that the company would see losses of NT$3.6 billion (US$110.77 million) because of the two month-delay.
Despite the delays, THSRC still expects to earn operational income in the second year of commercial operation, and break even within eight years, Chiang said.
Finances secure
The large amount of interest from foreign investors demonstrates that company finances are secure, Chiang said.
THSRC planned to issue overseas convertible bonds worth US$200 million, but decided last month to raise US$300 million instead as many overseas investors had shown interest in subscribing to the bonds, Chiang said.
The five-year bond issuance is being managed by Deutsche Bank's Hong Kong branch and is expected to be complete by January, he said.
Besides subscribing for bonds, some foreign investors are also buying THSRC shares on the market, Chiang said, without identifying investors.
The presence of foreign shareholders means THSRC's finances would be more stable as it would mean greater corporate governance, he added.
Media reports had it that investment bank Lehman Brothers was mulling to invest in THSRC, but Chiang declined to comment on it.
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