The Ministry of Transportation and Communications last night gave a conditional pass to the Lujhou MRT Line, saying there were three categories of problems that must be addressed before it begins service.
Director-General of the Department of Railways and Highways Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) said the inspectors would make a checklist of those defects after the city tenders the application to have those defects rechecked.
“As to when the service can be officially launched, it really depends on how fast the Taipei City [Government] can address them,” he said.
The inspectors consisted of transportation and civil engineering experts recruited by the ministry.
Lawrence Lan (藍武王) of Ta Hwa Institute of Technology, who has been an MRT inspector since the Muzha Line opened in 1996, said the inspectors were generally satisfied with the line, which will run across Taipei County cities of Lujhou (蘆洲) and Sanchong (三重).
“The ministry has amended the regulations requiring the MRT system to secure verification and validation [V&V] from an independent third party and conduct a seven-day test during peak hours,” Lan said. “When we inspected, we had V&V reports and the results of the system’s reliability test in our hands, which helped us focus on the potential problem areas.”
The inspectors gave the MRT staff two hypothetical scenarios on the spot to test how they reacted to emergency situations. The first scenario was to see what they would do if the gates on the platform could not be closed when the train departed the station. The second scenario was to check if they had taken the appropriate procedures in place to close the section of the tunnel that crosses the Tamsui River (淡水河) when filled with water and maintain operations in other sections.
The three categories are those related to emergency exits, signs inside the station and other facilities. Inspectors found that some emergency exit signs did not light up when a blackout was simulated.
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