The Bureau of High Speed Rail will meet with experts on Friday to examine the high-speed rail’s quake alarm system after the Jiasian (甲仙) earthquake on March 4 caused one of the trains to derail.
Aside from reviewing how Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) handles emergency situations, Bureau of High Speed Rail Director General Chu Shu (朱旭) said the bureau would also consult experts on what kind of technology could be used to reinforce the high-speed system’s earthquake alarm system.
While some have proposed that THSRC link its system to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) to shorten the time taken to react to a quake, bureau Deputy Director General Allen Hu (胡湘麟) said his agency needed to consider all the possible consequences of a link being established.
“The CWB is in charge of identifying the epicenter of earthquakes and confirming the magnitude, and our information should help the company activate its automatic braking system, not create false alarms,” Hu said.
Chu said his agency would continue to oversee the operations of THSRC, particularly in regards to its proposed plan to introduce a monthly pass for commuters, prepaid tickets and other types of tickets for frequent users of the line.
The Bureau of High Speed Rail would also ask the company to consider what to do about non-reserved seats.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
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