The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday completed the final inspection of the Taipei MRT system’s Neihu Line without any major concerns.
After the inspection, officials said that there must be clear directions inside the terminals at Songshan Airport guiding passengers to Songshan Airport MRT Station before the Neihu Line begins operation and that Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station on the Blue Line must also have directions leading passengers to the Neihu Line or the Brown Line.
Chi Wen-jong (祈文中), director of the MOTC’s Department of Railways and Highways, said the Taipei City Government had yet to display these directions — for fear of confusing passengers.
“Because the Neihu Line has not begun operations yet, passengers might be misled by direction signs into believing that they can start taking the trains now,” Chi said. “We accepted their [the Taipei City Government’s] explanation. So we only asked them to meet this particular requirement the day before they open the Neihu Line.”
Chi said the department had requested the Taipei City Government to fulfill this requirement as well, adding that it needs no further confirmation from the MOTC.
The Taipei City Government can decide when it wants to open the Neihu Line, he said.
“It really depends on when they can finish all the necessary complementary measures,” he said.
Meanwhile, the MOTC also listed 13 items that Taipei Rapid Transit Corp should strive to improve and two other suggestions.
Chi said the company should continue to work on these 13 items, which do not compromise operational safety, such as increasing bicycle racks.
The two suggestions included inviting experts to examine the facilities for handicapped passengers and working to lower noise the trains generate when they cross overpasses.
The inspection began on Saturday when inspectors checked Songshan Airport Station and Wende Station.
Yesterday, inspectors gave Taipei MRT system staff several hypothetical scenarios from the traffic control center in Neihu to test how they would respond under various situations.
They first tested the system’s ability to dispatch trains in two-minute intervals.
One of the scenarios simulated an earthquake measuring five on the Richter Scale occurring as a train arrived at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
The staff guided the “passengers” to the closest exits and switched the system to manual operation mode.
The traffic control center also dispatched overpass maintenance personnel to check if there was any damage.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS