In the latest debacle to hit the city's troubled rapid transit system in the past month, a crack was created yesterday in a pillar of the MRT Mucha line while subcontractors carried out maintenance work.
Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) the government body in charge of construction for the line, blamed the problem on faulty maintenance by subcontractors.
During a routine maintenance check of the lightweight Mucha line early yesterday morning, Chunghua Engineering Company, the subcontractors that built pillars for the elevated line, said they created a crack about one centimeter wide in one pillar between the Chungshan Middle School and Nanking East Road stations.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING
Following the discovery, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC) stopped trains on the stretch of track north of the intersection of Chunghsiao and Fuhsing Road and ran a free bus service for commuters.
DORTS said they planned to spend 24 hours working on the line and restore operations to normal as quickly as possible.
But DORTS spokesperson Ling Chi-yao (
Consultants yesterday were examining the crack and suggesting longer-term measures for fixing the problem, but DORTS' initial assessment was that a pin between the pillar and the track was put in the wrong position when Chunghua Engineering was trying adjust a tilted connection between the pillar and the track.
Several years of wear and tear from trains travelling overhead had created the tilt, said Ling.
A spokesperson for Chunghua Engineering was at first reluctant to acknowledge that incorrect placement of the pin during construction was the cause of the crack, saying that this was definitely an "accident." But when pressed said, "Yes, the pin was in the wrong place."
Chunghua had placed temporary metal "H-pins" as support around the crack, and DORTS consultants would recommend longer-term measures, he said.
The appearance of the crack yesterday is just the latest in a long series of mishaps for the MRT.
Cracks first appeared in pillars themselves after test runs on the Mucha line began in the early 1990s -- just several years after construction by the line's many subcontractors began in 1988.
During the two years of test runs between 1992 and 1994, trains derailed twice and brakes on trains caught fire twice.
Another of the dozens of subcontractors on the Mucha line, the France-based Matra Transport Co., has been locked in years of legal battles with DORTS over cost overruns and delays during construction. Matra built several portions of the Mucha Line, including the trains themselves and large sections of stations.
The majority of recent problems with the MRT system have been on the heavy-traffic network -- the Tamshui, Chungho and Hsintien lines.
In the last month alone, the TRTC's new mainframe signal computer on that system has failed at least three times, causing major delays, near misses between trains in tunnels and inconvenience for commuters.
The TRTC is now under intense pressure less than a month before its goal of opening a section of the new Panchiao-Nankang line before the end of this year.
TRTC spokesperson Henry Chen (
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
RSS