The Puyuma Express tilting train will begin its pilot service today after passing an independent verification and validation (IV&V) process by the UK-based Lloyd’s Register Group, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday.
“To ensure that the train fulfills safety regulations in its design and test runs, we asked an independent third party to execute the IV&V procedure,” the agency said.
The TRA expected to receive confirmation of the safety certification on Monday, but it did not arrive until 10am yesterday.
Photo: Wang yi-sung, Taipei Times
It said the delay was caused by the time difference between Taiwan and the UK, adding that its officials had stayed up late on Monday night to provide the supplementary documents requested by Lloyd’s.
The TRA has scheduled the pilot service to depart Shulin (樹林), New Taipei City (新北市), at 9:20am and arrive at Taipei Main Station at 9:40am, Songshan Station at 9:48am, Yilan station at 10:52am, Luodong (羅東) station in Yilan County at 11am and Hualien station at 11:50am.
The TRA ordered 136 tilting carriages from Nippon Sharyo, 16 of which were delivered at the end of last year.
To handle the expected crowds during the Lunar New Year holiday, the agency said eight trains would pass the IV&V procedure and start operating before the holiday begins on Saturday.
To reassure the public about the safety of the Puyuma Express, the TRA has made public the IV&V certification documents from Nippon Sharyo and Lloyd’s Register Group.
The TRA said the Puyuma Express allows for 56 runs to be added to the schedule between today and Feb. 18, providing an additional 2,000 seats per day.
However, tickets for the Puyuma Express during the nine-day-long Lunar New Year holiday have already sold out, the TRA said.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
RSS