The Bureau of High Speed Rail this week said that it has identified the causes of problems discovered during integrated system testing of the Airport Rail, adding that safety would determine whether the system is fit to launch.
The bureau organized a tour on Thursday afternoon — mainly for lawmakers serving on the legislature’s Transportation Committee — to inspect the Airport Rail, which is scheduled to be launched by the end of this year.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Jian-yu (陳建宇), local government officials and reporters were invited to join legislators on the tour.
Photo: Lee Kung-ping, Taipei Times
Visitors boarded an express train to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from New Taipei Industrial Park, or A3, station.
They disembarked at Terminal Two at the airport (A13 station) and were told how passengers can check in their luggage at the airport rail stations and how luggage would be transported to the airport.
Legislators offered suggestions during the test ride, such as adding flight information displays on the train.
The test went smoothly, without emergency stops, Chen said, adding that the ministry still aims to start service by the end of this year.
“We hope that domestic and international travelers feel proud of having such a safe system that they can take to see the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taoyuan next year,” Chen said.
The bureau further issued a statement in a bid to dismiss public concerns about the system. It said that part of the railway section was a long steep slope, which was considered in the design of the system.
The bureau also said that all brake tests have been conducted while the trains are fully loaded, with results in both slope and non-slop sections meeting safety standards.
“In the event of emergencies, the bureau would try to evacuate passengers when the train arrives at the next train station,” the bureau said. “If the situation calls for an immediate evacuation between stations, passengers would be guided to the closest emergency passages or stairs.”
Unlike the testing of the MRT system, which can be conducted during off-peak hours, the testing must be conducted on different items in different sections at different hours of the day, the bureau said, adding that the integrated system test and signal tests began in January.
The bureau emphasized that abnormal cruising of the train on the railway was addressed by enhanced rail-grinding work, and problems that appeared during testing have largely been mitigated after “root causes” were identified and debugging procedures were adjusted.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai