The MRT line between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Main Station is unlikely to be used during its trial run to transport Lunar New Year holiday travelers, as both the metropolitan railway’s operator and passengers would be exposed to too much uncertainty, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
Taoyuan Metro Corp, the operator of the airport MRT line, has been addressing 41 minor issues that were identified after it completed a final inspection last month required by the Mass Rapid Transit Act (大眾捷運法), the ministry said, adding that the company would submit a plan to the ministry this week to launch a trial run after correcting the issues.
When asked if the system could be used to transport people traveling abroad during the Lunar New Year holiday, which could coincide with the trial run, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said he did not think that would be a good idea.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“I would not expect the airport MRT line to be used to transport Lunar New Year holiday travelers to the airport. The operators would face tremendous pressure if given such a task, while users could be exposed to uncertain service quality,” Hochen said.
He said that he agreed with Taoyuan Metro’s proposed plan to only accept group reservations and not activate a baggage check-in system at Taipei Main Station during the system’s trial run.
The minister announced several measures that the ministry would implement to facilitate transportation during one of the nation’s most important holidays of the year.
Tolls are to be waived for travelers on freeways between 11pm and 6am during the holiday from Jan. 27 to Feb. 1, Hochen said.
However, unlike his predecessors, he refused to promise that people would be able to drive from Taipei to Kaohsiung on the freeways in less than six hours during the holiday.
“Nobody can guarantee how long [driving from Taipei to Kaohsiung] would take if drivers choose to take to the road at peak hours. Nor should anyone promise drivers that they can reach their destinations within a certain amount of time,” Hochen said. “It is unnecessary for the ministry to regard the promise of a six-hour drive from Taipei to Kaohsiung during the Lunar New Year holiday as a cross it must bear by itself.”
The ministry’s biggest challenge this year would be to ease traffic on roads to tourist attractions during the six-day holiday, particularly those in Yilan County and central areas, he added.
Regarding a plan to change the pricing scheme for freeway tolls, Hochen said that the ministry is not considering canceling in the short term a 20km toll-free driving distance afforded to drivers each day.
“We will not start charging drivers on east-west freeways either, unless there are alternative routes nearby or public transportation available,” he said.
However, the ministry might start examining whether short-distance drivers and those using freeways to commute should still be provided a daily 20km toll-free distance, as they often cause traffic delays in certain sections of freeways, Hochen said.
The ministry plans to implement a “zero-tolerance” policy for drunk drivers this year and aims to reduce the number of people killed in traffic incidents by 15 percent in three years, he said, adding that deaths in the 18-to-24 age group in particular should drop by 35 percent in that time frame.
Regarding projects proposed by local governments, such as extending the high-speed rail line to Pingtung County and building a railway line between Taichung’s Dajia (大甲) and Houli (后里) districts, Hochen said they were not on the ministry’s list of short-term
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS