Background:
Taiwan Railways traces its origins back to the Qing Dynasty, with significant development during the Japanese colonial period. The completion of the Western Trunk Line in 1909 laid the foundation for Taiwan’s modern railway system. Over more than 135 years of evolution, it has grown from a regional transport service into a comprehensive island-wide railway network spanning approximately 1,065 kilometers, connecting north to south and east to west, and becoming one of the few railway systems in the world capable of encircling a major island.
As a key pillar of Taiwan’s transport infrastructure, Taiwan Railways not only supports daily commuting and long-distance passenger travel, but also plays a vital role in freight transport and regional development. Serving hundreds of thousands of passengers each day, the railway network has a significant impact on national operations and economic activities.
However, this vital transportation lifeline spanning the entire island must continuously operate under the challenge of frequent and significant seismic activity. Taiwan is located at the intersection of complex tectonic plates, making it highly prone to earthquakes. Since the early 20th century, multiple major earthquakes of magnitude 6 and above have been recorded across different regions and periods. Each strong seismic event not only impacts built infrastructure but also poses substantial challenges to railway operational safety and service stability.
System Adoption Drivers and Evolution of the Earthquake Early Warning System:
The introduction of earthquake monitoring and early warning systems at Taiwan Railways originated from its collaboration with the Central Weather Administration. The Central Weather Administration provided seismic instrumentation to support the establishment of foundational monitoring capabilities and the progressive deployment of observation networks along the railway lines.
The initial system adopted seismic instruments from Tokyo Sokushin, with Sanlien Technology assisting in the implementation of the alerting and monitoring system, laying the groundwork for Taiwan Railways’ earthquake early warning framework.
As operational requirements increased, the system continued to evolve. In 2020, the Central Weather Administration promoted the “Earthquake Early Warning Optimization Program,” which was awarded to Sanlien Technology to implement an integrated solution. The upgrade introduced Palert seismic sensors, replaced approximately 70 legacy alarm units, and deployed 26 compact seismic sensors, significantly improving monitoring density and real-time responsiveness.
The system architecture is built upon the Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) framework and incorporates Real-Time Data (RTD) processing technology. It integrates data from Tokyo Sokushin instruments and Palert sensors, enabling real-time transmission and analysis results to be delivered to the monitoring platform, thereby providing decision-support capabilities for Taiwan Railways.
In 2024, Taiwan Railways launched a procurement project for a next-generation earthquake monitoring system, planning to deploy 50 strong-motion seismographs. Key upgrades include:
These enhancements significantly improve data transmission efficiency, timing synchronization accuracy, and overall system stability.
All equipment is required to pass verification by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to ensure measurement accuracy and operational reliability. Sanlien Technology ultimately secured the contract, with phased deployment beginning in 2025. The system covers 24 railway stations and 26 traction substations, with a total of 50 seismographs installed, substantially expanding the overall seismic monitoring coverage.
Challenges and Key Issues :
Before the implementation of the Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS), Taiwan Railways lacked real-time seismic response capabilities. Trains generally continued normal operations without the ability to slow down or take preventive actions, primarily due to the inability to immediately assess earthquake magnitude and impact scope.
In most cases, Taiwan Railways had to wait for earthquake reports issued by the Central Weather Administration before conducting inspections and implementing follow-up measures in affected areas. As a result, trains often continued operating during the initial stages of seismic events, increasing operational risk and highlighting the importance of real-time early warning and decision support and response capabilities.
In addition, earlier seismic instrumentation had not been regularly calibrated over extended periods, leading to potential measurement drift and reduced accuracy in intensity assessments. Prior to the establishment of relevant protocols, there was also no automatic power shutdown or protection mechanism triggered by seismic intensity (such systems were only implemented in 2020), which further limited overall automated emergency response capabilities.
Solutions :
Starting in 2025, the existing Tokyo Sokushin seismic instruments were progressively replaced with Sanlien Technology’s pALERT F340TR strong-motion seismographs, with system acceptance completed in 2026. Following the upgrade, the system integrates multiple streams of seismic information from the Central Weather Administration, including:
These data streams are integrated in real time into the monitoring platform, significantly enhancing decision support and situational awareness.
For regional early warning capabilities, on-site monitoring data is transmitted in real time to the Taiwan Railways central monitoring system for analysis. Meanwhile, CUBE earthquake alert devices deployed at field sites perform on-site real-time computation and response, providing critical information such as estimated seismic intensity and countdown to wave arrival, enabling faster operational response.
When an earthquake occurs, the pALERT F340TR detects ground motion and transmits the data in real time to the CUBE earthquake alert device, which simultaneously relays the information to the seismic control center for comparative analysis, such as evaluating discrepancies between estimated and observed seismic intensities. This continuous feedback loop helps improve overall early warning accuracy.
In terms of safety mechanisms, a trigger relay power shutdown control is implemented. When seismic intensity reaches a predefined threshold, the system can immediately activate protective measures for critical equipment, thereby enhancing overall operational safety.
Simultaneously, the web-based monitoring platform enables real-time visualization of device connectivity status and waveform data. In conjunction with SanDAS analysis software, it provides real-time three-axis seismic vibration information for each station. When an earthquake exceeds magnitude 5, the system can also generate further analytical reports.
Safety and Emergency Response Mechanisms :
Following an earthquake, the Taiwan Railways Operations Control Center adjusts train operating strategies in real time based on seismic intensity data reported from various locations, ensuring operational safety and passenger protection. When seismic levels exceed predefined thresholds, the system activates a tiered response mechanism, implementing different measures such as train speed reduction, restricted slow-speed passage, full service suspension, and automatic power shutdown at traction substations as protective safeguards.
After a strong earthquake occurs, route inspection procedures are activated simultaneously. Normal operations are only resumed by the Operations Control Center once the electrical and track maintenance teams have confirmed that the tracks and related infrastructure are safe, ensuring the safety of train operations across the entire network.
Performance Analysis and Future Outlook :
Following system implementation, advance earthquake warnings have significantly increased available response time, enabling field personnel and operations management units to carry out emergency measures in a more controlled and timely manner. Through SMS notifications and real-time platform updates, operations control centers in the northern, central, and southern regions, along with station duty staff, can immediately access seismic information and activate response protocols at the earliest stage.
In terms of safety control, the system can trigger alerts immediately after an earthquake occurs, allowing personnel in high-intensity areas to respond rapidly based on real-time warning information without waiting for confirmation from the central control center. Each station can directly rely on the real-time data displayed by the CUBE earthquake alert device to execute immediate actions such as train speed reduction and other safety measures, significantly improving on-site response efficiency.
Overall, the core value of the system lies in providing operations management units with more timely and accurate seismic information, enabling rapid execution of appropriate operational adjustments (such as train speed reduction or service modifications). This effectively reduces operational risks while further enhancing overall railway safety and system resilience.
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