The Taipei City Government yesterday defended itself against criticism that the Mass Rapid Transit System's (MRT) Neihu Line commenced operation before its trial period ended.
Taipei City Secretariat deputy director Tan Kuo-kuang (譚國光), who also heads an emergency response team to handle problems on the MRT's Muzha and Neihu lines, told a press conference it was common practice for MRT systems around the world to check system stability after starting operations.
“The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp [KRTC] also started stability checks after commencing operation,” Tan said.
Tan said that a final reliability check of the Neihu Line would not be conducted until the 51 pairs of trains previously traveling on the Muzha Line's Matra system are completely converted to fit the Neihu Line's Bombadier system.
Between six and eight trains can be converted per month, Tan said.
The Neihu Line was designed to be compatible with the Muzha Line's Matra system. Concerns about integrating the two systems were raised following a number of false alarms and malfunctions after the Neihu Line opened on July 4.
The Muzha and Neihu lines shut down completely at 3:30pm on Friday, stopping 21 trains carrying more than 9,000 passengers and forcing the evacuation of 700 people on trains that were stuck between stations.
Tan declined to comment when asked whether the final reliability check would not be conducted until after 14 months at the earliest.
“The [Neihu Line] system is not unstable. It has some flaws,” Tan said.
Tan said Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) found it unacceptable that passengers were forced to walk on the MRT rail during the evacuation last Friday.
“He said similar situations should never happen again. The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation and the Department of Rapid Transit Systems should treat passengers like their own family,” Tan said.
Tan said a senior engineer from Bombadier had arrived at the Neihu depot to investigate the cause of the system malfunction.
He added that Bombadier had stationed about 130 of its project engineers in Taiwan, adding that the city government hoped the firm could dispatch more personnel to help solve the problems.
The mayor had asked the city government's Law and Regulation Commission to evaluate the possibility of seeking compensation from Bombadier for the malfunctions.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday criticized the breakdowns at the Neihu Line.
Cheng said the Neihu Line should stop operating until it passes a government construction review in May next year.
He said the city government should not test the Neihu Line during operations and should complete a test review before restarting operations.
He added that the No. 5 Freeway and the Taiwan High Speed Rail both began operations after passing construction reviews.
Cheng also urged the Control Yuan to investigate the Neihu Line's malfunctions.
In related developments, Control Yuan member Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said the Control Yuan had requested information from the city government and would decide whether to investigate the operation of the Neihu Line after reviewing the documents.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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