Storm-hit Taiwan high-speed rail to resume normal operations Tuesday

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to resume normal operations on Tuesday, after Tropical Storm Danas caused a partial suspension of its bullet train service south of Taichung on Monday morning, the company said in a statement.

The bullet train operator provided service until 3 a.m. Monday, following disruptions of the line's power supply caused by debris that fell on tracks after Danas made landfall in southern Taiwan as a typhoon at 11:40 p.m. Sunday, the company said.

At 5:40 a.m. Monday, however, THSRC decided to cancel service south of Taichung that had been scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. until noon Monday due to the ongoing strength of the storm and the blowing of debris onto its tracks.

But it decided by 9 a.m. that conditions were good enough to follow the schedule it had previously committed to for Monday, and began running trains between Taichung and Zuoying, Kaohsiung at 9:40 a.m., it said.

On Sunday night, THSRC announced that due to the approach of Typhoon Danas, it would run only three all-stop non-reserved trains per hour in both northbound and southbound directions starting at 6 a.m. between its northern terminal Nangang and Zuoying in the south.

The last trains between Nangang and Zuoying on Monday were to depart at 9:40 p.m. in both directions, while the last trains to Taichung on Monday were to depart at 10:40 p.m. from both Nangang and Zuoying, THSRC said.

People holding unused tickets for services between the first sea warning issued for Danas (8:30 a.m. Saturday) and the lifting of the sea warning for the storm (5:30 p.m. Monday) can ask for refunds within one year from the date of the service they were due to travel on, according to the company.

However, there will be no compensation or refunds for delays caused by natural disasters as stipulated in the company's transportation contract, it said.