The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) yesterday unveiled its new Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) 700-model trains, which will be used to carry commuters and short-distance travelers.
The purchase was part of the TRA's efforts to reinforce its advantage as a short-distance train operator to cope with the impact of the Taiwan High Speed Rail.
The body of the EMU700-model train is decorated using three different colors: blue, white and orange. It has an interior design similar to the one used by the Taipei MRT System. The passenger seats, however, are covered with velvet.
PHOTO: CNA
Each train car can hold 300 passengers and has six passenger exits. Above each exit an LED panel will display the stops on the route and other relevant passenger information in both Chinese and English.
The train can reach an operational speed of 110kph, coming to full stop from maximum speed within 580m.
The train is also being touted for its energy-saving design. When the train switches from high speed to low speed, the motor will then become a power generator and transmit excess electricity back to the wires.
If the train's air-conditioning system breaks down, an emergency ventilation system to maintain air circulation inside the train will be activated.
TRA secretary general Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said yesterday that the administration has ordered a total of 160 EMU700-model train cars. Twelve were made by Nippon Sharyo Co, which is also the original designer of the EMU series. The other 148 cars were produced by the Taiwan Rolling Stock Co (TRSC), a local contractor who formed a technical partnership with Nippon Sharyo.
The contract states that TRSC must provide another 112 cars by the end of the year.
Chang said so far, only eight cars have passed the testing requirements. These cars will form the first train set that will begin operation this month.
Chang added that the administration hopes the operation of EMU trains will replace Chukuang Express (
TRSC vice president C.M. Chiou (
The train's motors, for example, were partially made by Tatung Co. A large percentage of the bogies, on the other hand, were manufactured by the China Steel Corp, he said.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS