《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Airport MRT to launch early next year: ministry

OUTSOURCING: Taoyuan Metro Corp is entrusting UK-based Ricardo Rail with the task of conducting an independent verification and validation of the system

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

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The Taoyuan International Airport MRT System is scheduled to become operational in February or March, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai （王國材） said that the system has been scoring 99 percent in reliability tests for nearly one month after the ministry assembled a team of 12 experts to prepare the system for its launch.

However, although the situation has improved, the system is still failing one requirement, that train delays exceeding five minutes not occur twice or more in one week, Wang said.

Wang also said that Taoyuan Metro Corp, the designated operator of the system, has nearly finished drills for 108 possible scenarios that it could encounter during operations.

The company is entrusting UK-based Ricardo Rail with the task of conducting an independent verification and validation of the airport rail system, Wang said, adding that it can then ask the Bureau of High Speed Rail and the Taoyuan City Government to conduct a preliminary inspection of the system.

The problems found in the preliminary inspection must be addressed first before the company can apply for final inspection from the ministry, Wang said.

If all goes well, “the system is expected to launch in February or March,” Wang said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES