Taipei mulls compensation for Neihu MRT problems

KSECO responded stating that it has yet to receive any official documents from the city but will discuss compensation on the basis of the original contract.

Richard Chen, commissioner of the city's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DRTS) said that the city is entitled to compensation for expenses suffered from system malfunctions on the line in two categories.

The first portion of the compensation that the city may ask for is a total of NT$811.77 million in irregular expenditures.

The extra expenses include NT$431.58 million in extra employee costs as of Nov. 4; NT$210.99 million loss in ticket revenues due to system shutdowns; NT$9 million used to compensate affected passengers; NT$7.69 million for shuttle bus services to evacuate stranded travelers and other losses incurred during the transit line's failures and expenditures resulting from equipment repairs and maintenance.

The second part includes NT$142.41 million arising from system suspensions for checks and repairs during weekends.

Since part of Wenhu Line's electrical system has not passed inspections, Chen added that it would be easiest to deduct the compensation from the electrical system payment after it passes inspection.

　　Although the city felt entitled to compensation from the contractor for the many malfunctions since July, KSECO's subcontractor Bombardier Inc. may also seek reparations from the city for construction delays mandated by the government.

On Aug. 9, DRTS verbally notified Bombardier to temporarily stop working on the communications and monitoring system of the old Muzha Line developed by Matra. Bombardier was not notified to resume operations on the Muzha section until Sept. 11, after it presented a comprehensive plan to upgrade the system.

The 34-day lapse in the work schedule will push the project's completion date from Jan. 4 to Feb. 7, 2010. The company is attributing the delay entirely on the city but has yet to propose a specific amount for damages.

DRTS denied the credibility of Bombardier's accusations saying that the system needed upgrading because it was flawed in the first place.

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