Kaohsiung firm apologizes for delay in opening MRT

Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) apologized yesterday for failing to deliver on its promise to inaugurate one of the two lines of the city's mass rapid transit (MRT) system by the end of the year.

At a news conference, KRTC president Fan Chen-po (笵陳柏) and otherofficials bowed to the public and explained why they will be unable to meet the public's expectations.

Fan said the delay mainly came down to the fact that construction work on barrier-free facilities at various stations and renovation work around the stations has not been proceeding fast enough.

As a result, the KRTC was unable to carry out the initial inspection as scheduled on Dec. 7 in order to inaugurate the Red Line before the end of the year, Fan said.

He vowed to pull out all the stops to complete the construction work as quickly as possible, but he did not say when the line would be opened.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) has repeatedly said that the Red Line of the MRT system, which has been under construction since October 2001, would be inaugurated before the end of the year. But KRTC chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) called on the mayor on Thursday night to report to her the reasons for the delay in opening the line.

The Kaohsiung MRT system's other line, the Orange Line, is expected to be in service late next year.