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| The History of Taiwan Railway Telecommunications Development |
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| During the early period after the restitution of Taiwan , the primary electrical facilities of the Taiwan railway system were rather primitive at that time. The guidance system was primarily mechanical. The electrical signal facilities consisted of road signal telecommunication blocking devices, composite telecommunication block devices and a few electrical signals. |
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| The essential task then, was to repair the damage resulting from the alley bombing during World War II and restore the fundamental needs of railway operations. |
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| After this period, nationwide plans in economy and construction implemented by the government generated rapid social and economic growth which in turn resulted in urgent need of railway transportation. To keep up with demands, the Taiwan Railway Administration had to expand existing facilities and modernize infrastructure and services. |
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| The modernization of the railway system called for the latest technology and management. Actual revolutionary improvements were imperative for its facilities and systems, on software and hardware as well, in order to maximize transport speed and efficiency, ensure passenger safety, enhance passenger and freight transport services, and increase competitiveness with other land transportation means. Universally, the most advanced electrical technology has been applied to railway modernization. |
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In order to follow international trends in railway modernization, the TRA set up an Electrical Engineering Department (formerly a division of the Transportation Department), headed by Mr. Chen Te Nien, who advocated that telephone system switch automation, signaling electrification and illumination modernization were the main targets of the TRA Electrical Engineering Department. Due to the collective efforts of the staff, the electrical facilities developed rapidly, bringing the Taiwan Railway up to date. |
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| Just after Taiwan recovered, the demands for better telecommunication services were growing as dramatically as the development of railway transport. To cope with the situation, the Taiwan Railway Administration persevered in improving and expanding the quality and quantity of the original telecommunication facilities, and also adopted advanced technologies such as electronic and computer telecommunications equipment in the comprehensive automation of the Taiwan railway telecommunications system. |
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| Underground Telecommunications Cable Project |
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| Before railway electrification, all the transmission lines were open wires along the tracks. The poles were primarily made of concrete at a distance of approximately 50 meters between poles. Strand steel wires were applied on lateral sides of the poles for fastening; most of the horizontal arms were structured for eight wires. Copper wires of 2.9 mm diameter were used for long distance and 2.0 mm for shorter distance. All of the wires were tied down to insulators. |
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| In order to reduce the crosstalk and cooperate with carrier equipment, normal crossing and carrier crossing technology were used for transmission line construction. |
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| Reinforced gradually over the years, the open wire system turned out to be the most durable and structured aerial cableway on the island. |
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| Nevertheless, suspended wiring was subject to weather changes, and thus the telecommunications quality was unstable. Damage often incurred from frequent typhoons or deliberate sabotage. Moreover, the structural limitation also deferred addition and expansion of wiring. It posed critical difficulty in coping with increasing telecommunications needs of an information era in both quality and quantity. |
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| Thus, revolutionary measures became imperative. Because TRA ' s western line was electrified with a 25 AC system, open wires along the line had serious interference. The open wire transmission system had to be changed to an underground cable system. |
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| Under the electrification project, the main cable was armored with 2.5 mm aluminum tube and four layers of high permeability steel tape to protect the circuit from interference. The main cable consisted of 64 pairs of outer layer quads, 5 inner pair and two pairs of coaxial tubes for the coaxial carrier transmission system. These systems improved transmission quality and increased line capacity, which would meet with the telecommunication needs in railway transport development and modernization after the railway electrification project was completed. |
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| The cable underground project witnessed the first engineering train construction in the country. One combined coaxial underground cable was embedded underground along the railway track starting from Keelung to Kaohsiung on the mountain line, measuring some 420 km. Another toll cable of 100 km long was also constructed on the coast line. The cables became the backbone of the Taiwan Railway telecommunication system. |
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| This line provided adequate transmission services for conventional telecommunication formats such as telephone and telegraph, as well as accommodating circuits for the power remote control system and CTC signal control system. Additionally, it could also supply data for a computerized ticketing system. It was apparent that this cable yielded a wide range of services and was critical to the railway system modernization. |
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| On account of the success of the Taiwan western cable underground project and with a view to the railway system's future needs in information, the TRA continued to develop the telecommunications cable underground construction for significant economic and construction plans: |
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| A. |
For the North Link Railway construction project, one 38-pair PEF insulated and PE coated long distance cable was embedded between Yilan and Hualien in 1980; |
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For the Eastern Line expansion project, one 54-pair PEF insulated and PE coated long distance cable was embedded between Hualien and Beinan in 1981; |
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For the branch line crossing improvement project, including the Chungho, Linkou, Neiwan, Tunshe, Shenkang, Chichi and Taichung Kang Lines, cables were laid underground in 1982; |
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For the Yilan Line Dual track project, the quality of cable armoring was upgraded to the same as the west line 74-pair/104-pair cable was laid underground in 1985; |
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For the South Link construction project, the open wire system of the Pingtung Line was removed and replaced by 20.9 km 102-pair standard PEF cable with aluminum tube and steel tape. Between Pingtung and Beinan, one 841102-pair PEF insulated, PE coated and steel armored cable was embedded, totaling approximately 138 km . After construction, all TRA cables around the island were underground. |
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