The Shenmu branch line of the Alishan Forest Railway, which was closed for more than eight months after a deadly accident, was reopened yesterday ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
Service on the Shenmu line resumed with a schedule of about 10 trips a day, the first of which left Alishan Station at 10:15am yesterday, the Chiayi Forest District Office said.
However, in the interest of safety, passenger load has been limited to 70 passengers per carriage, the office said.
Last April, a train on the Shenmu line derailed, killing five passengers and injuring 113. Three Alishan railway branch lines — Shenmu (神木), Chushan (竹山) and Jhaoping (沼平) — were subsequently suspended for safety inspections
The Shenmu line was the last to resume service, after the Chushan and Jhaoping lines were reopened in October last year and last month respectively.
The Shenmu line runs 1.8km from Alishan Station to Shenmu. The 10-minute trip costs NT$50 one way and NT$80 return. For passengers eligible for discounts, a one way ticket is NT$25 and the return fare NT$40.
The Alishan Forest Railway, which was constructed for logging during the Japanese colonial era, has been transporting visitors to the Alishan National Scenic Area since 1963.
Shenmu Station, located 2,138m above sea level, was named after the famous Alishan Sacred Tree that was more than 3,000 years old. The tree was known as Shenmu, before being toppled in a storm in 1997.
The railway’s main line, which connects Chiayi and Alishan, has been closed for repairs since 2009 following Typhoon Morakot.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS