The Taiwan Railways Administration has issued a response to a Facebook post by former lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang alleging problems with its EMU900 series.
These South Korean-made trains entered service in April. On Tuesday, Huang published a Facebook post saying that the trains had racked up 684 issues during a seven-month period this year.
On Wednesday, the railway administration said that only two of the issues reported with the trains from May to November actually affected operations, causing delays of over ten minutes.
Four of the incidents involved breakdowns, either before the trains set off or while they were in motion. A further 55 incidents involved technical issues, while the remaining 625 were largely minor issues such as crooked screws or noisy intercoms.
The railway administration says the EMU900 series is still undergoing testing and trials. It says that it will work to make the testing more rigorous and ensure that the manufacturer corrects all defects and problems with the trains. It also says that the manufacturer is contractually obligated to take responsibility for fixing any problems found within three years after one of the trains passes testing.