In what operators are calling unprecedented, a Taipei MRT train left a station yesterday morning with several of its doors still open, probably due to a faulty electronic switch.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), which runs the metro rail system, said it was the first such incident since the first line was launched in 1996.
All 141 trains running on the 129km system will now undergo checks, which the system operator said are expected to be completed within a week.
Footage aired by news station ETTV showed a seemingly nervous MRT employee standing by an almost entirely open door inside a train as it moves from Guting to Taipower Building stations on the Songshan-Xindian Line.
Photographs shared on social media showed passengers looking at the agape doors in surprise.
TRTC deputy chairman Sheng Chih-chang (沈志藏) confirmed that when the train left Guting Station at 8:59am, the four doors of the fifth carriage failed to close.
Informed of the problem, the driver switched to manual operations and slowed the train down on its way to the Taipower Building Station, where all 360 passengers were asked to get off and take the next train, Sheng said.
Maintenance personnel said the incident was likely caused by a faulty relay, the device in charge of the open and close signals for carriage doors, Sheng said.
Normally when the doors are open, a signal will be on to inform the driver, but that was apparently not the case yesterday, leading the driver to believe that the doors had shut properly.
Sheng said the train in question was manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and has been in operation for seven years. He said the trains undergo regular maintenance and parts changes in accordance with regulations.
The relays were manufactured by Siemens AG and are the same kind used in a total of 116 trains of the Taipei MRT system.
In addition to overall checks of each train, Sheng said TRTC would look into whether the control center, driver and station personnel dealt with the incident properly.
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