Taiwan Railway Corp has been asked to evaluate locations along railway routes where a rockfall monitoring system might need to be installed after the nation last week experienced the largest earthquake in the past 25 years, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
Wang made the remarks while inspecting the transport facilities in Yilan County along with lawmakers serving on the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
On Wednesday night, a northbound Puyuma Express train hit a fallen rock as it was nearing Hualien County’s Heping Station, causing the first car of the train to derail.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The incident occurred in a railway section that was not categorized as having a high risk of rockfalls, where a rockfall alarm system should be installed.
Wang told reporters that the rock bounced onto the tracks after falling from a side slope of Highway 9.
“The alarm system has so far been installed in 26 sections, and Taiwan Railway previously evaluated that the rockfall alarm system should be installed in 38 more railway sections. However, the incident occurred in an area with a relatively stable side slope,” Wang said.
“After we experienced a magnitude 7.2 earthquake centered in Hualien last week and more than 800 aftershocks afterward, I am asking Taiwan Railway to conduct a comprehensive examination along the railway routes again, particularly sections between Hualien and Taitung. They should study whether the alarm system should be installed in more locations, and the ministry should fund the increase in alarm system installations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wang also vowed to proceed with the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project after the earthquake caused severe damage to the highway, saying that it is the ministry’s most urgent task at the moment.
The highway, a 118km section of Highway No. 9, is considered one of the most dangerous yet most scenic drives in Taiwan, with a portion of it built alongside very steep cliffs.
The project is to address the safety issues in highway sections that were not included in the Suhua Highway Improvement Project, which was completed in 2020.
The sections are between Dongao (東澳) and Nanao (南澳) in Yilan County, as well as between Heping (和平) and Hejung (和中) and between Heren (和仁) and Chungde (崇德) areas in Hualien County.
“No damage was reported in tunnels built in the Suhua Highway Improvement Project after the earthquake. All road damage caused by the quake was reported in sections that were included in the project,” Wang said.
“For the highway’s long-term safety, we need the Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project, in which a 10.2km-long tunnel would be built. This would be the most important construction to the counties on the east coast and would be the ministry’s top priority, a task I would hand over to the new transportation minister,” he said.
The Suhua Highway Safety Enhancement Project is scheduled to be completed in 2032, Wang said.
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