The Executive Yuan yesterday announced measures to improve the safety and stability of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) service and change its business model.
The government has pledged to reform the nation’s oldest and largest railway agency since the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment on April 2, which killed 49 people and injured 244.
In a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday — which was attended by officials from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications; the Ministry of Finance; the National Development Council; the Public Construction Commission; the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration; and Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics — Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was briefed on key measures to be implemented.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Su has prioritized safety, stability and transformation as the government seeks to reform the railway agency, the Executive Yuan said in a statement following the three-hour meeting.
To enhance TRA safety, Su has suspended 204 temporary track projects across the nation as the Railway Bureau conducts a comprehensive inspection, it said.
Construction would only resume after the bureau finds that all sites are safe and that the necessary regulations are in place to keep them safe, it said, adding that the bureau would manage the TRA’s railway construction projects.
The TRA is to set up operational centers in northern, central, eastern and southern Taiwan to oversee the integration of its electrical engineering, rolling stock, construction and transportation departments, the Executive Yuan said.
All slope containment projects along the TRA’s tracks would be thoroughly inspected to ensure that the safety measures in place could prevent foreign objects from blocking the tracks, it said, adding that the TRA could freely access any state-owned property to make slopes safe.
Artificial intelligence would be used to monitor workers’ access to construction sites and ensure their safety, it said, adding that construction site supervisors would be given handheld radios to quickly contact the railway agency in an emergency.
“The TRA should be responsible for the safety of construction sites and not leave the responsibility to the contractors,” it said. “There should also be a mechanism to ensure that contractors strictly follow safety regulations.”
Su was quoted as saying that the TRA has accumulated massive debt over the years, as it has been tasked by the government to serve remote areas, which are less profitable routes.
“The government will become responsible for the agency’s debt. Construction costs on projects that don’t pay for themselves and the agency’s annual pension fund payment, as well as certain interest payments, are also to be paid by the government,” the statement said.
Government officials and outside experts would work together on the possibility of turning the TRA into a state-run corporation, the statement added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by