Exclusive | The most beautiful shuttle bus in history arrives in Taiwan this week with 10 cars and only 3 bathrooms | Apple News | Apple Daily

Built by the French TGV high-speed train team and hailed as the “most beautiful commuter train in the history” of Taiwan’s railways, the first batch of 20 trains will arrive in Taiwan on October 24. Testing will begin daily. next and will be released as soon as the end of November. The test runs, the goal is to transport passengers on the road before the Lunar New Year (2021), but it was recently reported that the most beautiful shuttle bus can become a “struggling train” because 10 carriages are only equipped with 3 bathrooms. If there is a malfunction, passengers will have to wait in line. Grip toilets; Taiwan Railways stated that the function of the car is to travel and the design is designed to increase capacity. One less toilet can increase capacity by 40%.

Taiwan Railways recently purchased EMU900 electric commuter trains, using a 10-car sorting configuration, and spent a total of 25.3 billion yuan to buy 52 trains and 520,900 electric commuter trains. It is the longest shuttle train of the trains in Taiwan. The first two trains total 20. The vehicle arrived in Taiwan on October 24, 2020 for delivery. It was transported from South Korea to the port of Hualien and unloaded by hoisting and unloading. It will travel from Hualien Port Temporary Railway to Hualien Station to “show”, the next day, October 25 The car performance test has started, and the test will take place on the route in late November as very soon. The public will have the opportunity to see the most beautiful shuttle bus driving through the Miaoli and Yuli sections in the west.

According to the plan of the Taiwan Railways, after the first two trains of 20 type 900 passenger tandem vehicles arrive in Taiwan, if the preparation and testing are smooth, they are expected to be online before the Lunar New Year on next year. Both the return line and the east trunk have the opportunity to see the most beautiful tandem commuter vehicles; the other 900 will also be delivered in bulk year after year. In 2021, there are expected to be a total of 100 vehicles on 10 trains, and a total of 120 vehicles on 12 trains in 2022. By 2023, 52 trains with a total of 520 vehicles will be delivered, and Taiwan Railways is also developing a plan. to replace old vehicles year after year.

However, although the appearance of the new car is amazing, it is said that it will be the train with the lowest proportion of toilets. Readers who did not want to be named complained to Apple News. The type 900 electric train has 10 cars, which is the longest interval car, but the whole train is only planned for 3. Compared to the 700 and 800 shuttles, there are 8 cars with 4 toilets. The smaller group of 4 cars for the 500 and other shuttles also has 2 bathrooms. The 900 shuttles have the most cars and the fewest bathrooms. If many people are in a hurry during the trip, they may have to grab the toilet and travel long distances to find the toilet through several wagons.

Another train conductor frankly said that there are actually very few toilets on the 900 shuttle bus. If it is used in the northern section to transport passengers, it can take an hour and a half to travel from Taipei to Hsinchu, and 40 to 50 minutes. from Keelung to Taipei. Passengers inevitably think When going to the toilet, if one of the toilets fails, not to mention the passengers, even the flight attendants will have to hold back urine and line up to grab the toilet.

Regarding this, the Taiwan Railway Bureau said that the Taiwan Railway Administration has purchased 520 electric air-conditioned commuter trains this year. The usage needs are similar to those of the MRT. They are used for unrivaled commuting, school trips and short-distance trains, and each vehicle has a bathroom. The 600 “Xinxin Ziqiang” intercity telecommunications vehicles have different functions and requirements, so they have different design concepts.

Taiwan Railways stated that considering the concentration of passengers during working hours and the limitation of the capacity of the route, in order to increase the number of passengers carried by the type 900 shuttle bus in a single trip, although there is 1 bathroom less than the type 700 and type 800 shuttles can carry travel capacity. It can be increased by 40%; Model 800 provides 4 wheelchairs and 8 bicycle positions, while Model 900 is upgraded to 8 wheelchairs and 16 bicycle positions, which can better meet the needs of different passengers.

Taiwan Railways also explained that this time the 900 shuttle bus toilets have been completely converted into sitting toilets. Compared to the 700 and 800 buses, there are sit-down toilets and squat toilets. There is no difference in the use of gender, and each toilet is equipped with a flushed toilet. Pad type for cleaning toilet seats and cleaning fluid, to improve the deficiencies of squat toilets that are susceptible to vehicle shaking, or the inconvenience of squat toilets for the elderly. Although the number of 900 toilets is small, the overall quality of service has improved.

In addition, Taiwan Railways noted that in addition to increasing the capacity of the type 900 electric train, the function of the train control and monitoring system (TCMS) is also added to the design, which can link the main and secondary systems of the vehicle, including display in real time of the information of opening, closing and isolation of the train doors. , It can effectively capture the status of each automatic train door; The temperature of the train air conditioning can also be adjusted through the TCMS system, and the temperature of a single car or the entire train can be adjusted at the same time; The TCMS system can also monitor the fire warning equipment of each car in the train group and display the fire alarm in case of fire. The warning compartment increases passenger safety at emergency exits. (Li Zihui / Taipei report)