The Taipei City Government yesterday started a small-scale test run inspection of the Maokong Gondola system, which has been suspended since September 2008, and vowed to follow safety procedures and conduct more inspections and test runs before resuming operations.
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) finished hanging the cable for Tower No. 16-1 (T16-1 pillar) on Monday and began testing the system yesterday afternoon, running five cars on the system.
Huang Chien-chang (黃建昌), director of the Maokong Gondola Operation Center, said engineers would inspect the equipment on the T16-1 pillar and check the stability of the system.
The TRTC will work with engineers to conduct a larger inspection before Taipei City’s Department of Transportation conduct a one-month final examination and formal test run, he said.
Huang declined to give a date when the gondola system will resume service, but reports have said the system will start operation next month if the test runs go smoothly.
The gondola service was suspended after Super Typhoon Jangmi triggered mudslides and eroded the ground beneath the T16 pillar.
The city government moved the pillar to its current location because of safety concerns.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) visited the inspection site yesterday, saying the city government had wasted taxpayer money by leaving the system closed for more than a year.
Taipei residents continue to pay for the maintenance and construction fees of the gondola system.
The city government should stop wasting our money and give us a date when services will resume,” she said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said last month that an abandoned coal mine was hidden under the system’s Taipei Zoo Station and could cause the system to collapse because of the area’s fragile geology.
Chuang said that the central government had suggested the city government conduct a geological inspection of the area to make sure that the system’s route would not go through the abandoned coalmine, but that the city government ignored the advice and rushed ahead with the construction.
The city government acknowledged that there was an abandoned coalmine under the station, but insisted that it would ensure the safety of the system before resuming the service.
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