Yesterday was a bad day for Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) after services on both the Wenhu and Bannan Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines had to be temporarily suspended because of separate incidents.
The first incident occurred at 8:06am when an unexpected power interruption occurred at a power substation in Muzha.
The power shortage caused four trains to pause between Da-an and Zhongxiao Fuxing stations, as well as Xinhai and Linguang stations of the Wenhu line, trapping passengers inside.
PHOTO: CNA
As many as 19 other trains were also effected, TRTC spokesman Chao Hsiung-fei (趙雄飛) told reporters.
“Service was suspended on the Muzha section of the line, but we were still able to keep the rest of the line running via manual operation,” he said.
Since the incident happened during the morning rush hour, more than 1,700 passengers were affected, Chao said, apologizing for the inconvenience.
TRTC quickly dispatched shuttle buses, but this didn’t help because the buses became stuck in traffic for more than 30 minutes.
“We dispatched buses immediately after the situation occurred, but since we quickly brought everything back to normal by 8:33am, the buses did not arrive until everything was fixed,” Chao said.
“It was very inconvenient — the MRT shut down, the shuttle buses arrived late and all the taxis were full,” one Wenhu Line passenger told reporters. “I was late for work.”
“[TRTC] staffers at Liuzhangli Station only told us that the service was suspended, but could not say how long the suspension would last or what they intended to do for the passengers. We were left there on our own,” another passenger said.
“I am very upset — I was late for work, I had to take a half day off, but all I got was a ‘sorry’ from the TRTC,” the passenger said.
Service was partially disrupted on the Bannan Line after a 26-year-old man jumped onto the tracks at Shandao Temple station in the afternoon.
The interruption lasted from 3:12pm to 4pm as Taipei Fire Department personnel worked to remove the man from the tracks.
The man was conscious when he was rescued and suffered only minor injuries. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
At press time it was still unclear why he jumped onto the tracks.
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