Environmental impact assessments (EIA) for new mass rapid transit (MRT) lines will include system integration risk assessments, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The decision came after an EIA panelist proposed the move during a review of the planned Minsheng-Sijhih (民生汐止) Line.
Concern about the safety of new MRT lines has increased “because of the problematic system integration between the MRT's new Neihu Line and the old Muzha Line,” the panelist said.
The Neihu Line, which opened on July 4, experienced its worst system malfunction on Friday. Passengers were evacuated from the trains and forced to walk along the tracks to the nearest station.
The Neihu Line continued to experience problems the following day, with some train doors closing too quickly, trapping passengers.
“Proposals for new MRT lines must include risk assessments for integrating systems manufactured by different contractors,” he said.
The EIA panel yesterday granted conditional approval for the first phase of the Minsheng-Sijhih Line, a NT$42.2 billion [US$1.28 billion] construction that will stretch 11km from Neihu District (內湖) in Taipei City to Sijhih in Taipei County, with nine stations.
The EIA panel also ruled that Taipei City must submit a separate EIA proposal for the second and third phases of the line. If completed, the entire line will span a total of 17.5km, with 15 stations.
Besides risk assessments for system integration, the proposals must also include risk assessments for natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, the panel said.
In related news, the EIA panel yesterday returned a proposal to expand city planning for the Tucheng Ammunition Warehouse (土城彈藥庫) to the EIA review committee.
If Taipei County wishes to continue pushing the case, it would have to submit supplementary information, it said.
In the proposal, 163 hectares of primarily undeveloped land in the heart of Taipei County's Tucheng (土城) will be turned into a residential area as well as a “judiciary zone.”
However, environmental activists have lobbied for the preservation of the area. The old military base was blocked from development for the past half century and is now home to more than 30 species of rare birds and more than 70 species of rare plants.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS