Two-way operations on a single Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) track between Rueifang (瑞芳) and Houtong (猴硐) stations in New Taipei City partially resumed yesterday for the first time since a massive landslide on Nov. 4.
The agency managed to clear the debris on the east mainline of the track by 9pm on Sunday.
The first train to travel through the section since the landslide arrived at Houtong Railway Station at 5:17am and was greeted by Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who was waiting on the platform.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
He distributed some money to the construction crew as a reward for their hard work.
“Our construction crew managed to achieve the goal despite inclement weather conditions over the past 10 days, removing more than 10,000m3 of debris,” he said.
Lin said it would take more than one-and-a-half months to fix the west mainline, but the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would use the time to find ways to reinforce side slopes and study the possibility of building a rock shed.
Reopening only the east mainline would not severely affect operations, as long as trains are properly deployed, he said.
Trains operating through the damaged section of the line must observe a 40kph speed limit, and the TRA has installed monitoring instruments along the line to ensure the safety of train operations, Lin said.
The TRA yesterday canceled five train services that had been scheduled to travel through the section, but all services are expected to resume today, he said.
The TRA is reviewing guidelines governing the maintenance of side slopes, and would adopt stricter standards to monitor and inspect side slopes to ensure the safety at some key sections, Lin added.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS