The first tram-train for the Ankeng light-rail transit line is being tested, a major step toward the line’s launch scheduled for the end of next year, the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems said on Monday.
The gold-colored train was produced by Hsinchu County-based Taiwan Rolling Stock Co, a subsidiary of China Steel Corp, and was delivered to the system’s maintenance facility for testing late last month.
The train, one of 15 that have been ordered to be used on the line, has five cars, each of which has 62 seats, the department said.
Photo courtesy of the Department of Rapid Transit Systems
Another 14 trains are to be delivered and undergo dynamic and durability testing on the line in Xindian District before going into service, it said.
During a visit to the maintenance facility, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said that 42 percent of the equipment used on the Ankeng line would be domestically produced, greater than 22 percent for the Danhai Light Rail in Tamsui District (淡水).
The Ankeng line is 83 percent complete, Hou said.
The 7.5km line is part of a transportation expansion plan aimed at reducing travel times from New Taipei City to Taipei by 15 to 20 minutes, while alleviating traffic congestion in metropolitan areas.
The line is to have four ground-level stations and five elevated stations.
It is to run from Shuangcheng Neighborhood (雙城) in Ankeng (安坑) area to Shisizhang MRT Station on the Circular Line (Yellow Line) of Taipei’s metro system.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
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Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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