The Taipei City Government yesterday said that the Muzha-Neihu MRT Line would continue running for the duration of the Deaflympics despite a failure to fix the frequent malfunctions and system shutdowns.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said it would increase the number of trains on the Muzha-Neihu (Brown), Blue and Red lines on Saturday in expectation of large crowds attending the opening ceremony of the Deaflympics.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said system inspections over the last two weekends had increased the stability of the line and reduced the number of system breakdowns.
The system builder, Bombardier, and TRTC agreed that it would be unnecessary to close the line again during weekends as the engineers planned to inspect the system after the line was closed at midnight.
“About 150,000 passengers depend on the line every day and suspending it would have a big impact on them,” Hau said at Taipei City Hall.
SHUTDOWNS
The line, however, experienced two new shutdowns yesterday morning.
Service was interrupted at 7:56am after the operation center detected low tire pressure in a train at Jiannan Rd Station.
The second interruption occurred at 8:56am after a false alarm was reported at Linguang Station.
Service resumed at 9:07am.
The line experienced three shutdowns on Monday.
Hau admitted yesterday that the line’s performance was “far from perfect,” but insisted that continuing the service was “the best choice under the circumstances.”
ATHLETES
In response to concerns that Deaflympics athletes could be trapped on the trains if the line broke down again, Hau said that each athlete would be allotted two volunteers to address his or her needs.
The volunteers will assist the athletes if they encounter any problems while riding on the MRT, he said.
Hau also dismissed allegations that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was Taipei mayor when construction of the line began, had called him and asked him not to shut the line down.
“That is simply not true,” Hau said.
“The decision was made by Bombardier and the city government,” he said.
INCREASES
TRTC general manager Tsay Huei-sheng (蔡輝昇) said the company would shorten the interval between trains on the Muzha-Neihu Line to 2 minutes and the Blue Line to 3 minutes ahead of the opening ceremony of the Deaflympics on Saturday, which will be held at Taipei Track and Field Stadium at the intersection of Bade Road and Nanjing E Road.
The interval of the trains will also be shortened for the closing ceremony on Sept. 15, Tsay said.
Free MRT service guides and maps in Chinese, English, Japanese and 15 other languages are available at MRT Stations.
Free shuttle buses would be provided if the MRT service shuts down during the period of the Games, Tsay said.
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