Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government would decide by today whether to shut down the problematic Muzha-Neihu MRT Line for the duration of the Deaflympics.
The line, which integrates the Muzha segment built by French contractor Matra Co in the 1990s and the Neihu segment built by Canadian contractor Bombardier, suffered eight emergency shutdowns between its inauguration on July 4 and Sunday.
Almost as if on cue, the line malfunctioned three times yesterday. The first glitch occured at 6:53am when the system falsely signaled it had detected an unidentified object on the tracks. Operations resumed after an eight-minute delay.
The second malfunction came at 2:28pm at the Zhongshan Junior High School Station after some debris was found on the tracks. Passengers were evacuated before the system restarted after an eight-minute wait.
The line stopped again at 7:34pm when another false signal about an object on the tracks was received. Twenty-five passengers were trapped inside cars until the problem was fixed and the system restarted at 8:02pm.
Critics have suggested that the Neihu MRT line be closed during the 21st Summer Deaflympics, which opens in Taipei on Saturday and runs through Sept. 15, to prevent an embarrassing breakdown during that period.
Hau said Bombardier has been working to fine-tune the Muzha-Neihu line’s network system.
The line was closed for the past two weekends so Bombardier could fine tune the computer software and conduct dynamic and static testing.
Electrical engineering experts with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said the work being done on the network program would protect the entire system from a complete breakdown if a single facility fails or malfunctions because it would keep the problem confined to a single station or segment of the line.
The experts said all of the line’s 24 stations have been equipped with a second uninterrupted power system (UPS) to enhance operational stability.
“After all these upgrades are completed, we will conduct an overall review to decide whether the entire line should remain operational or be shut down during the Deaflympics,” Hau said.
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