A magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck off Hualien County yesterday morning has left railway and highway services in eastern Taiwan paralyzed, and it would take considerable time to restore them, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said.
Most railway and road traffic in the region has come to a standstill, and repairing the damage could be challenging due to ongoing aftershocks, Wang told reporters on the sidelines of a legislative hearing.
Some steps have already been taken to help people travel up and down the east coast, which is dominated by mountains and is essentially connected to northern Taiwan by one vulnerable road and a railway line that threads through mountainous terrain, he said.
Photo: AFP / Hualien County Fire Department
Taiwan Railway Corp said it aims to restore two-way operation from Yilan County to Hualien County by noon today.
The state-run railway company said in a statement yesterday evening that it was repairing damage along the line between Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) station and Hualien County’s Fonglin Township (鳳林) station, including landslides and buckled tracks.
The goal is to resume two-way operation on one side of the line by noon today, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Fire Bureau
As the Suhua Highway (part of Provincial Highway No. 9) has become inaccessible after the Dacingshuei Bridge (大清水橋) was destroyed, the railway operator said that it would increase 10 sets of commuter trains between Yilan and Hualien counties to carry travelers returning home from the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday weekend, which starts today.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is today to start a maritime transportation shuttle service connecting Yilan County’s Port of Suao and the Port of Hualien, while airlines are providing extra flights to the area, Wang said.
Mandarin Airlines yesterday operated one additional flight between Kaohsiung and Hualien and another flight between Taichung and Hualien. Uni Air operated one flight between Taipei and Hualien and is to operate another Taipei-Hualien flight today.
Still, it would be a challenge to rely on air transportation to get people in and out of the Hualien area, because of limited capacity exacerbated by the high demand from travelers during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, which runs until Sunday, Wang said.
The Maritime and Port Bureau also worked with ferry operators to use the Taipei Express and the Taima Star to help ferry passengers and their vehicles between Port of Suao and Port of Hualien today.
The Highway Bureau was asked to increase shuttle bus services between the Suao railway station and the Port of Suao, and between the Hualien railway station and the Port of Hualien.
The Tourism Administration said it had reached an agreement with hoteliers in Hualien to help travelers cancel their reservations in the next three days.
Meanwhile, high-speed rail service has resumed normal operations after 44 trains were canceled and others were run at reduced speeds after the quake until 1pm.
It does not have a service to Taiwan’s east coast.
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