The MRT’s Wenshan-Neihu Line experienced two more breakdowns yesterday — in the morning and the evening — related to power interruptions in the tunnel between the Dazhi and Songshan Airport stations.
The operation center first cut power in the tunnel at 10:21am after detecting an abnormal signal, suspending service between Zhongshan Junior High School and Jiannan stations until 12:18pm, the Taipei Rapid Transit System Corp (TRTC) said.
Spokesman Tan Gwa-guang (譚國光) said four trains were in the tunnel when the power was interrupted. All 650 passengers were evacuated by 11:13am, Tan said. Some passengers were trapped in trains for 52 minutes.
Tan apologized for the suspension and said the TRTC would give the trapped passengers 10 single-trip tickets as compensation.
“The TRTC is still looking into the cause of the power interruption,” he said at Taipei City Hall before the second malfunction in the evening, between 7:24pm and 7:37pm, along the same stretch.
The TRTC offered free shuttle buses between Zhongshan Junior High and Jiannan stations during the suspension of service.
Passengers who were stuck on the trains complained that the air conditioning turned off during the first malfunction.
“We were trapped inside the trains for more than 50 minutes and it was so hot in there,” a passenger surnamed Huang said afterward at the Zhongshan Junior High Station.
“This is really a waste of everyone’s time … The city needs to fix this problem,” said Hsu Chia-ning (許家寧), who was waiting for a shuttle bus. “I’ve been afraid of taking the [line] ever since it started having problems.”
Several passengers got into an argument with TRTC officials who said they did not know what the problem was.
“We just got called in from other stations as support,” said a TRTC official who wished to remain anonymous. “We have not been told what went wrong.”
“[The city] should have done more trials and testing before opening the line,” said a woman surnamed Lee. “I’m very disappointed ... but at least it didn’t happen at rush hour.”
But other passengers laughed it off.
Lugging three large suitcases, Chang Yu-cun (張宇群) said: “It’s my first time on the MRT and I run into a problem.”
He ended up taking a taxi to Songshan Airport.
Yesterday’s breakdowns were the fourth and fifth since the Taipei City Government changed the name of the line from the “Muzha-Neihu Line” to the “Wenshan-Neihu Line.”
The city spent about NT$1 million (US$30,000) on changing the name to shake off the nickname “Zhahu” (詐胡), a mahjong term for when a player mistakenly thinks they’ve won a round of the game.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) had promised to increase the stability of the line to about 90 percent by this month. He did not comment yesterday.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS