A section of railway blocked by a landslide in Hualien County reopened to two-way traffic along the eastern track this morning, with both tracks expected to reopen by Saturday, Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) said.
Heavy rains on Sunday and yesterday triggered landslides that left debris on the Chongde-Renhe section of the eastern rail line and damaged electrical equipment.
Rail traffic in both directions was halted on Monday, with the state-run company offering shuttle services bypassing the affected area.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Railway Corp
Thanks to the hard work of 40 repairers, the eastern track was cleared by 4:20am today and reopened to two-way traffic at 5:36am, the TRC said in a news release.
The first train, local No. 4117, departed from Chongde Station at 5:43am, it said.
Workers were still clearing debris from the western track, and were expected to finish by later today, it said.
The entire western track is expected to be repaired by Saturday at the earliest, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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