All reserved-seat Taiwan Railway trains suspended Wednesday

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) Taiwan Railway Corp. has suspended the operation of all of its trains with reserved seating Wednesday as Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan, the state-owned company announced late Tuesday night.

The operations of some local commuter trains (including express trains) will operate normally Wednesday, while others, such as the South Link Line, which connects Pingtung County to Taitung County, will be suspended, Taiwan Railway said.

In terms of local trains, those on the western trunk line from Keelung to Changhua will run as usual, with adjustments possible based on wind and rain conditions, according to the railway company.

Trains from Changhua to Fangliao in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, where the storm is currently having the biggest impact, will be operated on an as-needed basis depending on the weather.

On the eastern trunk line, there will be no through service connecting northern Taiwan to Hualien and Taitung counties on Wednesday.

Trains from Taipei to Hualien will run only to Heren or Heping stations, subject to weather conditions, while trains from Hualien to Yilan will operate only to Xincheng station in Hualien County.

Trains between Hualien and Taitung will operate as usual, though with changes possible based on weather conditions.

Taiwan Railway also said branch lines in the northern half of Taiwan, such as the Pingxi Line, Liujia Line, and Neiwan Line, will operate as usual, subject to weather conditions.

The Jiji Line and Shalun Line in central Taiwan will be suspended.

The company said that passengers who have purchased tickets for any trains affected during the period from the initial typhoon sea warning to the lifting of the warning can get a refund at any station within a year of the ticket's date without paying any processing fees.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the center of Typhoon Krathon was located 140 kilometers to the southwest of Kaohsiung and moving north-northeast turning northeast at a speed of 7-10 kph, according to data from the Central Weather Administration.

With a radius of 220 km, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 173 kph, with gusts of up to 209 kph, the data indicated.