Errors generated by switches in the high speed rail system have been gradually reduced after Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) enhanced quality control this year, the Bureau of High Speed Rail said yesterday.
However, the bureau said it would let the company decide if it should seek compensation from Siemens, the railway switch manufacturer, as the malfunctioning railway switch system had resulted in train delays and financial losses.
“The company signed a contract with the contractor,” said Chen Ching-chih (陳景池), the bureau’s deputy chief engineer. “We will let them sort out the issues relating to compensation based on the terms of the contract. The bureau does not interfere in business disputes.”
Statistics from the bureau showed that a total of 67 railway switch-related incidents have occurred since the high speed rail system began operation in 2007, with 12 of them recorded this year. The repeated errors with railway switches eventually caused the railway switch manufacturer to send its representatives to the nation earlier this year to identify the root cause of the problems.
Chen said that five of 12 recorded incidents this year happened because of the problems with the micro switches within the railway switches.
“The specialists at the end of July identified that the electrical impedance of these micro-switches were not functioning properly,” he said, adding that the contractor subsequently found that the railway switches in certain batches of production presented similar issues.
The electrical impedance describes a measure of opposition to alternating current.
To address the issue, Chen said the company has managed to improve the defect-free ratio of the railway switches by adding the procedure of optical inspection in its manufacturing process.
The high speed rail operator also increased the intensity of “pre-aging” testing of the railway switches, from a frequency of once per month to every one to two weeks, he said.
Chen said THSRC further increased the number of sites equipped with emergency resources for railway switches from eight to 12, to shorten the time for repair and maintenance.
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