A crack found on a Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) railway track is not interfering with the trial operation of the system, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday.
Taoyuan Metro Corp president Chen Kai-ling (陳凱凌) said the crack was found on a steel track between Linkou (林口) and Shanbi (山鼻) stations during regular maintenance on Saturday last week.
The workers who discovered the crack — about 2mm to 5mm wide and 10cm long — immediately reported the problem to the traffic control center as the company’s standard operating procedure stipulates and fastened the railway tracks with a fishplate, Chen said.
A fishplate is a flat piece of metal used to bolt rails together.
“We [Taoyuan Metro Corp] also informed the Bureau of High Speed Rail about the problem. After assessing the crack and its location, it was determined that the defect would not interfere with the trial operation of the airport MRT line,” Chen said.
Chen said that the line’s trains began to use a different track after the crack was found.
Maintenance workers were asked to increase their inspections of all the railways used on the line on Sunday and Monday and to ensure that the fishplate was securely fastened, the company said, adding that no other crack was found.
As the railway tracks are still covered by a warranty, the company said it has asked the Bureau of High Speed Rail to investigate.
The bureau said it has prepared the parts needed to repair the damage and work was scheduled to begin last night.
This is the first time a crack has been found on the line, Chen said, adding that it might have been caused by rapid changes in temperature.
Such problems cannot be prevented and might well recur, he said, adding that the company would continue to inspect the railway tracks daily and address any problems immediately.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS