TRANSPORTATION
Rail services reduced
High-speed rail services would be reduced from April 18 to June 21 amid falling demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said yesterday. The reductions would apply from Friday to Sunday during off-peak hours, the company said. About 41 services would be cut each week, or 4 percent of the weekly total of 1,016, it said. At least three trains would run every hour during operation hours, it added. Services would return to normal before the Dragon Boat Festival on June 25-28 and is expected to cause a surge in demand, the company said. It said it would monitor passenger volume and make adjustments to its services if necessary. By the end of next month, all 12 stations on the high-speed rail network would be equipped with infrared thermometers and people with a temperature of more than 37.5°C would not be allowed to board trains and would be given a full refund, it said.
SOCIETY
Taichung clubs shut down
Taichung’s five major nightclubs have agreed to shut down for 14 days to support the city’s efforts to contain COVID-19, the Taichung Police Department said yesterday. The decision came after officials from the city’s Civil Affairs Bureau and Health Bureau visited several bars, clubs and other entertainment venues on Sunday to persuade them to close their doors, as the nation continues to battle the spread of COVID-19, police said. Those that agreed to shut down for 14 days are Muse, Alta Club, Show House, 18TC and X-Cube, the five most popular nightclubs in the city, they said. Some of them decided to the close immediately, while the others said their shutdown would take effect yesterday, police added.
LOTTERY
Special prizes unclaimed
Five receipts that each won NT$10 million (US$328,893) in the November-to-December draw of the Uniform Invoice Lottery have yet to be claimed, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday. The deadline for claiming the prizes is May 5, the ministry said. Thirteen receipts with the number 59647042 won the special NT$10 million prize and eight of them have been claimed so far, it said. Of the five that have yet to be claimed, three were for purchases under NT$100, it added. One winner bought a pack of dried berries from a 7-Eleven convenience store for NT$35, another spent NT$79 on gas and the other bought a matcha latte for NT$80 at a fast-food chain, the ministry said. Eighteen receipts with the number 01260528 won the NT$2 million prize, but only eight of them have been claimed, it said.
LOGISTICS
Postal services suspended
Chunghwa Post on Friday announced that postal services to 102 countries have been suspended due to flight cancelations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Postal services would not resume until flight services provided by the nation’s carriers return to normal, it said. The countries affected by the disruption include India, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan, Oman, Bahrain, Brunei, Laos, Armenia, Turkey, Israel, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Luxembourg, Spain, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Russia, South Africa, Senegal, Brazil, El Salvador, Chile and Mexico.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS