Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) chairman Shih Che (史哲) yesterday apologized to shareholders for massive delays caused by a signal system malfunction on Monday, adding that the company has commissioned an independent third-party investigation into the incident.
The malfunction occurred during power module replacement work on a switch machine controller in the Miaoli section, Shih said at the company’s annual general meeting, adding that it failed to function after adjustment and a system reset.
Although the company reduced services to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour to continue operations, the decision disrupted the travel plans of many passengers, Shih said.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
The system disruption occurred when more than 80 percent of power modules were replaced, Shih said, adding that an independent third party has been commissioned to identify the root cause of the problem.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that the incident caused to passengers. We also thank their consideration and cooperation while we worked to repair the system and rearrange the service schedule, a true expression of civilized citizens,” Shih said.
Earlier yesterday, Shih was re-elected chairman at the board of directors’ meeting.
Shih told shareholders that a new train schedule would be published before a new set of trains is added to the fleet in July next year, and the framework of the new schedule would be made public in January next year.
The high-speed rail system has undergone major changes since service began about 20 years ago.
Initially, travelers between the north and south accounted for 50 percent of the total number of passengers. Now, 50 percent of the riders travel in sections north of Taichung, Shih said.
The average daily ridership has grown from 60,000 at the initial stage and could exceed 235,000 this year, he said.
The company expects passenger traffic this year to reach 83.877 million trips, up from 82.07 million trips last year, after taking into account the nation’s economic growth, population, convenience in purchasing high-speed rail tickets, the company’s membership program and high-speed rail travel products.
There were no passenger casualty accidents attributable to THSRC last year, it said.
The average on-time performance rate for the year (defined as delays of less than five minutes) was 99.31 percent, down by 0.19 percent from 2024 due to the impact of natural disasters.
Excluding disruptions caused by natural disasters, the average train departure rate reached 100 percent for the year.
Revenue totaled NT$54.65 billion (US$1.74 billion) last year, a 2.75 percent increase from 2024. Pre-tax net profit reached NT$8.12 billion, up from NT$8.04 billion in 2024.
The company is to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1.15 per share.
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