More than 30,000 commuters traveling by train showed up late for work yesterday as the electronic signaling system near the Chidu (
The failure became apparent at 5:20am, and the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) management was informed at 6:07am. The contractor for the system did not arrive at the scene until 9:05am.
Normal operations resumed at 10:13am.
One Tzuchiang express and two Chukuang express trains as well as 12 commuter trains were canceled, while more than 70 trains were delayed, with nine delayed for more than an hour.
In accordance with TRA policy, passengers of these nine trains are entitled to a full refund.
Hsieh Sui-yuan (謝水源), the deputy director of the TRA's electrical engineering department, said that the power supply for the signaling system had stopped.
Once electricity had been restored, the main computer's safety mechanism locked the system.
Hsieh said the Chidu station had been built by the Railway Reconstruction Bureau, which was responsible for the signaling system.
The bureau had outsourced the project to a Japanese contractor, he said.
Construction of the station will not be completed until the end of this year, but the TRA began using it in 2005.
Hsieh said that since the reconstruction bureau had signed the contract, it should hold the contractor responsible for the damage.
Hsieh said, however, that as the construction had yet to enter the contractual phase of maintenance and quality guarantee, the bureau was therefore unlikely to ask for compensation.
The reconstruction bureau said that the station had been handed over to the TRA two years ago.
The TRA said later last night that the power supply for the signaling system had been cut off by a loose screw used to fasten electrical connectors.
The loose screw prevented electricity from reaching track switches, it said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS