Trial runs on the first line of Taichung’s MRT rail system could be further delayed after the Taichung City Government asked for more comprehensive safety checks following a malfunction.
Trial runs on the Green Line began on Nov. 16, but were suspended after one of the trains on Nov. 21 reported a malfunction at the Taichung High Speed Rail Station terminal.
Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp (TMRTC) the same day said that all services would be suspended until the problem is resolved.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the train’s manufacturer, said that a US-made coupling connecting two carriages had broken, which the company said had “never happened before.”
Kawasaki and the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems, which is overseeing the project, have over the past week inspected 36 couplings on the MRT system’s 18 trains, 30 of which had no defects, the Taipei City Government said on Monday.
As removing the remaining six couplings proved difficult, the department said that it would replace them with new ones that had passed safety checks, the company said.
However, one of the six couplings broke when a train was being moved at a maintenance depot, the company said.
The broken coupling had fractures similar to the one that broke previously, and raised questions whether there were systemic issues with the component, it added.
The Taichung City Government has asked the department to conduct more safety checks and propose solutions, which could delay the resumption of trial runs and the formal launch of the line, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 19, the company said.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said the safety reports submitted by the department were not sufficiently detailed and she has instructed it to conduct more tests.
The department has to address whether there are systemic issues with the component and the trains, Lu said, reiterating that the MRT service would not resume until all problems have been resolved to the city government’s satisfaction.
“We will not resume operations just for the sake of it. Safety is our first priority” she said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS