Air and rail traffic around Taiwan were disrupted today while power cuts occurred across the country as Typhoon Kong-rey, predicted to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon, continued edging closer to the country.
A total of 241 passenger and cargo flights departing from or arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were canceled today due to the typhoon, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said.
As of 9:30am, 109 inbound flights, 103 outbound flights and 29 cargo flights had been canceled, the company said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Railway Corp also canceled all express trains on its Western Trunk Line, Eastern Trunk Line, South-Link Line and attached branches due to the typhoon.
Before noon today, commuter trains between Keelung and Changhua County were operating on a limited schedule that was subject to change depending on the typhoon's strength.
All services after 12pm were to be suspended, the company said yesterday night.
Meanwhile, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp also altered today’s schedule, with trains running every half an hour from terminal stations in the north and south.
All high-speed trains today are to operate without seat reservations, except for business-class cars.
Taoyuan Metro Corp also announced that all express and extended service trains on the Taoyuan Airport MRT would be canceled.
Those needing to travel to or from the airport can take the commuter train, which runs every 15 minutes.
The pre-flight check-in and luggage transportation services usually available at Taipei Main Station and New Taipei Industrial Park Station have also been canceled.
The Taipei Metro today announced the suspension of its services on elevated rail sections beginning from 11am due to strong winds.
The metro system's elevated rail sections are the Wenhu Line, the section between Yuanshan and Tamsui stations on the Tamsui-Xinyi Line, as well as Xinbeitou and Xioubitan stations.
Services on the underground sections of the metro system were to continue, but with longer intervals between trains, Taipei Metro said.
More than 153,000 households across Taiwan have experienced power cuts with about 63,500 households still without electricity of 12pm, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said.
Among the hardest-hit areas were Taitung and Hualien counties in eastern Taiwan, where as many as 67,000 households experienced a blackout at one point, the state-run company said.
To restore power, Taipower deployed almost 10,000 personnel and more than 5,000 vehicles.
However, the extreme weather and nightfall are anticipated to slow down repair work, with full restoration efforts expected to continue into tomorrow morning, Taipower said.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
RSS