TAIWAN: Commercial operations on the first line of the Taichung metro will not begin as scheduled on December 19, Mayor Lu Shiow-yen confirmed on December 14.
Under construction since 2009 at a cost of NT$59·3bn, the 16·7 km driverless metro line running from TRA’s Beitun station in the northeast to Taichung’s high speed rail station has been developed by the Taipei-based Department of Rapid Transit Systems.
A month of trial running with passengers began on November 16, but was suspended following a ‘major malfunction on one of the trains’ at the Taichung HSR terminus five days later.
According to operator Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp, a US-made coupling broke between the vehicles in one of 18 two-car trainsets supplied by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Taichung Transportation Bureau Director-General Yeh Chao-fu said the broken coupling did not conform to design standards.
The decision to postpone the formal launch was taken following the submission to Taichung City Government on December 11 of a report from DORTS and Kawasaki, which had been asked to undertake a comprehensive inspection of all 18 trains following the incident. According to Lu, the administration believed that the reason for the breakage had yet to be conclusively determined and the proposed repair schedule was ‘overly optimistic’.
Apologising to residents for the delay, she said the city government would establish an ‘MRT malfunction review committee’, bringing together relevant experts to handle the matter ‘more objectively and efficiently’. Yeh added that the city needed to be convinced of the safety of the metro before setting a new opening date.
Lu said the city government had sent the report back to DORTS requesting further improvements, and would also seek compensation.
