Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/21/2020
By: Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen Yu-ting,
Hao Hsueh-chin and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The Japanese manufacturer of the trains to be used in Taichung's new mass rapid transit (MRT) system apologized Monday for a major flaw found during the system's trial run last month, saying the problem was caused by an assembly defect and is now being fixed.

Speaking at a press event, Kawasaki Heavy Industries representative Hideki Ukita said the breakdown that occurred on Nov. 21 was caused by the improper assembly of anchors for the couplings that connect the carriages.

Ukita said the improper assemblies prevented the gear shafts guided by the couplings from functioning in a stable manner, putting undue pressure on them and causing them to break during the trial run.

Technicians responsible for the Taichung line eventually found that two of the gear shafts had broken while 30 other of the gear shaft and coupling assemblies it examined were not damaged.    [FULL  STORY]