Flights, trains resume Thursday as typhoon impact lessens

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (TIAC), Taiwan Railway Corp. (TRC) and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) announced on Thursday they were gradually resuming operations that had been canceled or changed due to the impact of Typhoon Gaemi.

TIAC said it was starting to process all of Thursday's 568 arriving and departing flights and that those either canceled or delayed due to the typhoon will be rescheduled.

TIAC said airline traffic would peak between 1 p.m. and 11 p.m. and asked travelers to be patient.

The company urged passengers with flights from Taoyuan Airport and those planning to pick up travelers to pay attention to airline updates.

It said in a press release that 92 inbound flights and 112 outbound had been canceled or were delayed as of 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The affected incoming flights included 72 commercial jets and 20 cargo planes and the 112 outgoing flights included 93 passenger jets and 19 cargo crafts.

Meanwhile, THSRC announced its operations resumed at 2 p.m. It had previously said that all services before 3 p.m. would be canceled.

TRC, however, announced that normal services on certain stretches on its Eastern and Western Trunk lines had started at 3 p.m.

The company said that Typhoon Gaemi had brought down the overhead lines between the Eastern Trunk's Heping and Heren stations. A mudslide had also covered the tracks between Heren and Chongde stations and caused a bridge to collapse.

As a result, only commuter services between the trunk line's Shulin and Su'ao stations had resumed by 3 p.m., while services between Taitung and Hualien had returned by 3:50 p.m. The converse route, Hualien to Taitung, has been scheduled to return by 5:52 p.m.

Services on its Western Trunk line had been canceled due to rising water levels in the Bazhang and Gaoping rivers, it further explained.

The company said only commuter train services between Keelung and Changhua stations on the line had begun at 3 p.m., while trips between Changhua and Chaozhou stations may return depending on weather conditions.

The TRC South Link line will remain closed, as will the Pingxi, Shen'ao, Jiji and Neiwan lines, the company added.

The Liujia line had gradually return to normal service from 3:29 p.m., it said. Services on the Shalun line will resume at 5:15 p.m.