Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government

Mayor Ko Wen-je visited Taichung City on February 17 to inspect the implementation of full passenger load capacity tests for the Taichung Mass Rapid Transit (TMRT).
 
Accompanied by deputy mayors Pong Cheng-sheng and Tsai Ping-kun, Ko attended a briefing immediately after arriving at the TMRT station. Following the presentation, delegation members boarded the test train which is loaded with sand bags to simulate train carriages operating at the full capacity of 540 passengers. During the ride, the mayor focused on the computer monitors and discussed details with IT staff members.
 
The loaded trains have operated continuously between February 8 and 9, completing the stress test by traveling a total distance of 500 kilometers.
 
During the press session after leaving the train, Ko noted that trial runs were immediately called off after reports of the train’s coupling component malfunctioning on November 21. Following investigations conducted by a designated task force under Taipei City Government, the manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries was asked to redesign and reinstall the cracked parts, as well as to conduct multiple tests to ensure the safety of train operations.
 
Ko remarked that in line with the strict requirements established by the Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS), all 36 coupling components on 18 trains were replaced, while 2 of these new parts were delivered to third party certifying authorities for testing.
 
DORTS personnel continued holding full capacity tests throughout the Chinese New Year holiday, and the mayor pointed out that he is here today to check the final results. The agency will deliver the final report of the incident to Taichung City Government, who will have the final say on when to recommence trial runs.