Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) officials said yesterday that the agency has asked Taiwan Rolling Stock Co (TRSC), the manufacturer of EMU700 commuter trains, to immediately address technical problems found in some of its train carriages, including some already in service.
The light-emitting-diode (LED) panel in each car, for example, occasionally displays incorrect information, while the onboard broadcasting system sometimes fails to inform the passengers of stations. Some carriage doors have also malfunctioned.
For the train cars that are in use, the TRA has requested that the TRSC address the problems by a specified time. For carriages undergoing testing, the contract requires the TRA to halt test runs if any one problem appears five days in a row. The TRA will not allow the company to resume test runs until the problems are addressed, it said.
As of yesterday, the TRSC had delivered 88 carriages, the TRA said. The company was unable to deliver another 32 carriages this month as planned, and it faces penalties totaling NT$4 million (US$121,200).
The TRA has just completed testing of another set of trains. Six more sets are now being tested.
The TRA said the TRSC has been slow to address problems, which has delayed the testing schedule. On average, it has had to postpone the scheduled launch of each set of carriages by about six weeks, it said.
The TRA said its contract with TRSC entitled it to seek compensation, but what worries it most is the possible lack of replacements if the two sets of EMU700 trains break down.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS