Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) yesterday acknowledged problems on five Blue Line trains and promised to fix them within one week.
The TRTC found cracks last week on 11 anti-sway devices, which are placed under the cabins to prevent MRT trains from swaying too much. The 11 devices were on five trains, which were immediately sent to Beitou depot for maintenance, TRTC General-Manager Tsai Huei-sheng (蔡輝昇) said at Taipei City Hall.
Tsai dismissed concerns the cracked devices could have affected passenger safety.
The company contacted Siemens, which built the cars, as soon as the damage was detected and replaced the five cars with others so that transportation needs were not affected.
“The anti-sway device is not crucial for MRT trains. It simply helps reduce the swaying and makes passengers more comfortable during the ride,” he said.
The cracks were about 5cm wide, which should not have affected the operation of the trains, Tsai said. He declined to say what caused the cracks, but insisted the damage could be repaired within a week.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hung Chien-yi (洪健益) said several passengers had complained to him about swaying on the MRT trains. Hung criticized the TRTC for failing to act until it received complaints from passengers.
“The TRTC still doesn’t know what caused the cracks. If not for those passengers, the problematic trains could still be carrying passengers,” he said.
Tsai said travel on the Blue Line would not be affected by the repair work.
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