The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Monday officially established the Railway Bureau, authorizing it to supervise the construction and oversight of railways nationwide, as well as generate opportunities to export the nation’s railway expertise and technology to other nations.
The new agency was formed by merging the ministry’s Railway Reconstruction Bureau with its Bureau of High Speed Rail.
The Railway Bureau is based in New Taipei City — in the same building as Banciao Railway Station — and opened for business after a ceremony unveiled a plaque bearing the new agency’s name to the public.
The Railway Reconstruction Bureau operated for 40 years, and the Bureau of High Speed Rail for 20, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said, adding that the Railway Bureau could draw on resources from both agencies in fulfilling its role.
“It is not only a construction agency, but an enforcer of the laws regulating railway operations,” he said. “It oversees railway operations nationwide and develops the railway industry in cooperation with other government agencies. It not only ensures that the railway service is available to the public, but that railway technology is updated, as well as shared with other nations.”
The bureau must not only recruit government employees, but also retain independent experts to review railway projects, investigate major accidents, research and develop technology and certify the safety of railway systems, Hochen said.
The MOTC and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have produced a list of railway system components that the nation should produce locally, such as the pantographs mounted on the roofs of electric trains, railroad switches and railway signaling systems, he said.
“We have asked the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and universities to develop these products,” Hochen said. “Combining product development with research would lower development costs and make mass production possible. By producing these components locally, system maintenance costs would be lowered.”
“We could even export these components to other nations,” Hochen added.
Scheduled to begin operations in 2021, a railway technical research and certification institute is one of the organizations that would be overseen by the Railway Bureau.
The institute would be charged with increasing the proportion of locally made railway components used by the Taiwan Railways Administration and light-rail systems from 42 percent to 70 percent within 10 years.
About 15 percent of the components used in the high-speed rail and MRT systems are made locally, the MOTC said, adding that it hopes the Railway Bureau can increase this figure by 3 percent annually.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS