CWA and TRA Deploy Customized QPEPlus System for Railway Extreme Weather Monitoring

To mitigate threats from typhoons, extreme rainfall, and slope failures, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration (CWA) collaborated with Taiwan Railway Corporation (TRA) to implement the customized QPEPlus monitoring system. Utilizing a GIS-based framework, the system updates every 10 minutes to track 99 priority rail segments and 34 bridges, issuing yellow, orange, or red alerts based on historical vulnerability and infrastructure resilience to support train control decisions such as speed reductions or suspensions. In addition to rail infrastructure monitoring, QPEPlus integrates debris flow and landslide warnings from the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation, alongside convective storm and lightning detection. For the steep Suhua corridor with limited ground observation stations, a pilot radar reflectivity threshold mechanism (50 dBZ) was deployed across two sites between Heren and Chongde stations. The two entities signed an MOU in 2025 to advance real-time warnings and AI-assisted analytics.

Key takeaways

• The system monitors 99 priority rail segments and 34 bridges with multi-tier rainfall thresholds, issuing yellow, orange, and red alerts.
• Integrates agency debris flow alerts, convective storm tracking, and lightning data to support railway dispatch and operations.
• Pilots radar reflectivity monitoring along the Heren-Chongde section, triggering red alerts when 50 dBZ echoes exceed thresholds within a 3 km radius.
• Following a 2025 MOU, both agencies plan to incorporate AI-assisted analysis and introduce 2-day wind and 24-hour rainfall point forecasts.