TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The involvement of a Chinese subcontractor in the production of doors for new sections of New Taipei's MRT Circular Line has raised safety concerns.
The northern and southern sections of the New Taipei Metro Circular Line or Yellow Line, currently under phased construction, are expected to be completed in 2031. Alstom, the French company responsible for supplying trains, has chosen China-based Nanjing Kangni Mechanical & Electrical Co. as the supplier for the train door systems, per Liberty Times.
However, the company has no prior track record in Taiwan and has been linked to safety incidents involving doors opening unexpectedly in both the US and China. Taipei City Councilor Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) has warned that Taipei's Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) must conduct a thorough review to ensure safety is not compromised.
Nanjing Kangni is based in Nanjing, China, and specializes in the research, manufacturing, and technical services of rail transit door systems. Its product lines include train door systems and platform screen doors.
Its largest shareholder is Nanjing Institute of Technology Asset Management Co., and the fifth-largest is Diaoyutai Economic Development Co., both state-owned enterprises in China.
The New York City Subway experienced several incidents in late 2019 and January 2020, when train doors opened unexpectedly while the train was in motion. In response, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority pulled 298 new Bombardier subway cars from service for inspection.
A similar incident occurred in March 2023 on Line 5 of the China Railway Dalian Metro, where doors opened while the train was moving, involving Kangni’s products. Multiple unreported incidents of malfunctioning doors in China have also been rumored, though minor at the time.
The northern section of the Circular Line will run from Xinzhuang to Dazhi, and the southern section from Xindian to Taipei Zoo, with 18 new stations under construction since March 2022.
Chiao said concerns over cybersecurity and national security from Chinese investments in the rail sector are not new. Chiao said the multiple surprise door-opening incidents on the New York City Subway in 2020 prompted a US senator to warn the federal government about the potential national security risks posed by Chinese state-owned enterprises entering the American rail system.
Chiao said Nanjing Kangni has no experience in Taiwan’s railway industry and has been involved in safety incidents related to train doors. Given the potential involvement of Chinese capital, he urged the city government to examine the procurement process and strengthen oversight of contractors to ensure safety.
Attorney Ray Chin (秦睿昀), managing partner at JuiYu Law Firm, told Liberty Times that under Taipei City Government’s subcontractor management guidelines, the winning bidder is responsible for its subcontractors. The city government must act as the gatekeeper.
Chin said Article 11 of the National Security Act prohibits facilities essential to national defense from being supplied by hostile foreign entities or companies from China, Hong Kong, or Macau, but metro systems are not classified as national defense infrastructure. Chin said new legislation would be needed to reclassify metro, railway, and high-speed rail systems as critical national defense infrastructure.
DORTS told the newspaper that Alstom won the contract as the system integrator. While the contract prohibits system integrators from being Chinese-funded, it does not explicitly prohibit Chinese-funded subcontractors for subsystems.
However, the department must grant final approval before the manufacturer can proceed. It said this case has not yet been submitted for review.
