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.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS