High Speed Rail delayed by up to 70 minutes due to quake in Chiayi

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) Some trains on the Taiwan High Speed Rail network were delayed by up to 70 minutes following a magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Chiayi County on Thursday morning, the operator said.

Taiwan High Speed Rail confirmed the seismic event caused some trains to be delayed by 40-70 minutes, adding that it had deployed an emergency response team and carried out operational checks.

The firm initially said on its website that the quake in southern Taiwan had affected the entire high-speed rail route -- between Nangang and Zuoying stations.

However, the company later confirmed that 84.7 kilometers of track were affected, without specifying where.

All speed limits were lifted at 12:45 p.m. after it was confirmed there were no security risks.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railway initially limited trains to speeds between 30-60 kilometers per hour as a safety measure, but operations resumed normally after tests showed no abnormalities.

In a Facebook post at 1:30 p.m., Taiwan Railway said its trains were delayed by 30-40 minutes on average. It added that reserved trains will also stop at Xinzuoying Station and Xinwuri Station between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m to minimize disruption arising from the earthquake.

Unreserved tickets will be available to purchase and those unable to buy them in advance will not be charged an additional fee.

No injuries were reported in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, where some operations at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp. were temporarily halted as a precaution.