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THSRC's real challenge starts now

Despite the public's skepticism, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has granted an operating license to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC).

After the difficulties that riddled the construction and testing of the nation's first bullet train system, its official opening will mark the beginning of the real challenge.

During the construction phase, many questioned the THSRC's decision to combine Japanese, European and hybrid electro-mechanical systems.

But the main issue at hand was not what electro-mechanical system to use, but rather whether the THSRC understood what kind of system was required.

For an inexperienced high speed rail operator, choosing one unitary system would of course have been the safest choice.

Yet the potential hazard was that the system might be incompatible with the local climate or differences in operating habits.

The THSRC had its own ideas about the necessary electro-mechanical system and the selected composite of systems reflects what the THSRC believes best.

Therefore, if the system does not perform as expected, the operator will be held entirely responsible for the consequences.

Safety is the most important requirement for any transportation system.

It takes time to verify whether or not the electro-mechanical systems are safe and reliable.

The fact that the system works during inspections does not mean that it is the best choice.

The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) has purchased a lot of trains in the past that proved problematic once in operation. There have even been logistical problems with the supply of spare parts.

This led to the phenomenon of "organ donor" trains, in which a train is gutted for spare parts for the repair of other trains of the same model.

When the THSRC rail becomes operational, the logistics and maintenance needed to maintain overall safety will also be put to the test.

The results of the THSRC trial runs suggest that staff training is inadequate and that crucial improvements will require time.

The THSRC's regulations are just ink on paper. In reality, the cooperation of its entire staff is necessary to implement these regulations.

Turning regulations into routine operations is thus a great challenge, and training must include dealing with emergency scenarios that would rarely occur.

This is something that neither the TRA nor the MRT companies have been very successful at, but the THSRC must not follow their examples.

As communication and cooperation is an important requirement to maintain operational safety, the THSRC must focus on using Taiwanese staff to firmly localize operations.

Apart from the connection between the high speed rail and the Taipei MRT system, none of the planned points of connection to external transportation systems planned by the government before 2000 have been completed.

The question of how the government wants the railway to connect to other transportation systems can therefore not be resolved by the THSRC alone.

On another note, the question of how to invigorate the aviation industry and the TRA as part of the nation's overall transportation plans will be another challenge for the government.

Hung Chih-wen is a railway expert.

TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG
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