Anyone have updates when the Taichung METRO will be running again? Seems they needed get a part replaced from America, wonder if there was a delay with COVID in getting it fixed by the Yanks?
From what I heard it’s the linkages breaking.
They broke for a reason. Either some engineer didn’t do their jobs, or there needs to be serious redesign or retraining.
I don’t think it’s going to be repaired anytime soon, especially if it’s due to bad engineering.
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Thanks and does not seem it will run in 2020 then?
Well it depends on why that linkage broke.
If it broke because the material was not properly heat treated and so won’t handle the load that it was designed for, then it is a simple fix, remachine the part and heat treat them properly. Shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to fix.
If it broke because the design of the train itself is wrong, then modifications to the train is necessary. That could range from simple to complex depending on how many parts needed replacement. If the entire train is just poorly engineered then this means the entire train has to be replaced, very costly and time consuming to do.
If it broke because the driver went too fast for the curve, or the curve was poorly designed, then the drivers will be told to drive slower, or the entire track needs to be rebuilt. Telling the drivers to drive slower is much easier than rebuilding the tracks.
It all comes down to why it broke. But it’s happening on so many different train tells me something big is wrong.
I wonder if it’s at all due to the construction + opening taking so long. Maybe something got communicated poorly along the lines in their 10+ years of building this thing, or maybe certain 10-year-old parts don’t play well with brand-new parts. Regardless, at this point the Taichung metro is more of a meme to me - I wonder if it’ll ever be open (and stay open) while I’m in Taiwan.
It’s just par for the course for any new rail transport system in Taiwan , they always take years to fix the issues .
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Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan (盧秀燕) announced today that the opening of Taichung Metro on December 19 was postponed.
Mayor Lu apologized to the citizens and said that a third-party impartial committee would be organized to review the inspection reports of Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (北捷 ) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (川崎重工業), and the city government would also seek compensation from Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (北捷)
source
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Looks like it’s a design problem. Could take a very long time.
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yeah look at all the problems the muzha brown line had on its opening time. Tires were bursting because they were already old when the line started running. Then they discovered the pillars were prone to cracking and all or most had to be encased in steel casings. Etc.
And then there was problems integrating the old matra train / system with the bombardier ones in the new sections to neihu, etc etc
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Christ they’ve been testing it for years already !
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Yes, seems strange after a long test period that this came up after people used it only a few days. Wonder if in the long term driverless carriages are worth the delays. or they used one of the current systems in use?
It’s been pretty much ready to go since 4 years ago. Just one delay after another. Even some local friends just laughed when I asked when it would open.
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