The Maokong Gondola inspection committee yesterday conditionally approved the resumption of the cable car system, provided the Taipei City Government correct three deficiencies before operations start.
Committee chief Lin Jyh-dong (林志棟) said the city must give clear instructions as to where passengers should go to pick up a number for boarding the gondola and how they should line up before boarding.
The city must also dispose of garbage and any other unused items in any of the gondola stations before reopening them to public, he said.
It should also review standard operating procedures (SOP) in case there’s a blackout, Lin said.
Additionally, the committee listed six general reminders and 14 suggestions for the city to consider and improve upon.
The gondola service was suspended at the end of 2008 after the base of one of the support pillars was eroded by a typhoon.
The city then moved the pillar in question to a different location.
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake occurred before the committee began inspecting the system, which presented an opportunity for committee members to check how well the service crews reacted to an emergency situation.
The system stopped for a minute after the earthquake and resumed at an operating speed of 1kph. The system then resumed normal operations after ensuring it could safely continue.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors Lee Ching-feng (李慶鋒) and Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) staged a protest before the inspection started yesterday. They accused the city of intentionally avoiding supervision by the city council. They said that they had applied to review the examination report on the Maokong Gondola, but still had not received it.
The city appeared to be hiding something, they said.
Taipei City Government spokesperson Chao Hsin-ping (趙心屏) dismissed the allegations.
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