Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday apologized after a fire broke out on the MRT Wenhu Line on Monday, promising to replace the high-voltage cable between Neihu and Wende stations within two weeks to ensure the line’s safety.
“Taipei Rapid Transit Corp [TRTC] followed standard procedures in handling the incident, but we still owe the public an apology for the inconvenience. We will examine the situation to find administrative mistakes if there are any,” Hau said in a report on the fire to the Taipei City Council.
The fire occurred near Wende Station at 1:38pm on Monday, interrupting service for about 40 minutes. The TRTC later blamed the fire on a circuit malfunction, which the corporation said caused sparks and burned the rubber surrounding the cable.
TRTC general manager Tsai Huei-sheng (蔡輝昇) said no passengers were trapped between stations when the fire occurred. After a thorough inspection with the system’s builder, the TRTC will replace the cable between the two stations, which is about 4,000m long, as one of the safety measures.
The TRTC will present an investigation report on the incident and look into who was responsible within 40 days, Hau said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors yesterday lashed out at Hau and the TRTC for once again putting MRT passengers at risk and demanded that the company complete the report earlier.
“The city government and the TRTC always blame the Wenhu Line’s problems on the contractor and system builder. This shows the arrogance of government officials. We want the TRTC to present the investigation report as soon as possible,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Lee Chien-chan (李建昌) said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chou Po-ya (周柏雅) said the Wenhu Line had experienced more than 100 malfunctions and system breakdowns since it was opened in July last year, while the older Muzha Line only experienced two fires since it opened 13 years ago.
“How many more mishaps will occur on the Wenhu Line? Who will take the administrative responsibility and step down if another major accident occurs?” Chou asked.
Hau declined to comment on whether any officials would step down to take responsibility for the problem-plagued line, but said the city government would not shield officials who were found to be negligent in their duties.
The Wenhu Line was inaugurated on July 4 last year but has suffered repeated glitches, including trains suddenly stopping and doors failing to open.
The first major incident occurred on July 10, when a power outage brought the line to a stop, leaving approximately 700 passengers stranded on trains that stopped between stations and forcing them to walk to nearby stations along the tracks.
The numerous malfunctions since then have prompted the city government to offer a 36 percent discount to passengers who take the line.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS