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.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS