Shrugging off a shutdown yesterday morning that left Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
The temporary shutdown left Hau, Ma and several city officials and reporters hanging in the air for more than 10 minutes.
Hau brushed off the shutdown as a glitch caused by a faulty cabin door as he defended the safety of the system.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
"A cabin door was unable to close, and so the system shut down automatically. It was a technical problem and we will examine the issue. But it was not a safety concern," Hau said after alighting at the cable car system's Taipei Zoo Station.
An afternoon thundershower triggered several more shutdowns in the afternoon.
New Public Works Department Director Lee Shu-chuan (
PHOTO: CNA
The heat and humidity in the cabins drew complaints from the passengers, despite the city government's efforts to increase the number of holes in the cabins. Fans were also handed out to the crowds waiting at the stations.
"It's like sitting in an oven. I can't stop sweating," a passenger surnamed Chen said.
In response to the flood of complaints about the cabin temperatures, which are usually 3oC higher than the outside temperature, Hau promised to improve the ventilation system within six months.
The city government was also hit with a barrage of complaints for failing to publicize the official opening time of 2pm. Many people had arrived at the Taipei Zoo Station by 6am believing the system would be running in the morning.
Despite the glitches and complaints, Hau thanked city staffers and the French firm POMA for their hard work over the past year.
"The completion of the system was the result of continuous efforts by both the Ma and Hau municipal teams. It is our summer gift to Taipei residents," he said.
Ma also praised POMA for insisting on a 12-week test run period to ensure the system's safety.
Opening day was was delayed a month because of safety concerns and noise pollution complaints.
The system, which cost more than NT$1.3 billion (US$39.3 million), is the only cable car system in the country that traverses a mountainous region for its entire route.
The system will operate from 9am to 10pm Monday to Friday, and 8:30am to 10pm on weekends and holidays.
Mass rapid transit (MRT) EasyCards can be used to pay for a ride. Tickets cost NT$30, NT$40 and NT$50 depending on the length of the ride.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS