The newly launched Maokong Gondola was hit by a technical glitch on Tuesday that forced operators to suspend the service indefinitely.

According to Taipei Rapid Transit Corp., the gondola was forced to stop operations due to bad weather on Tuesday at noon. It resumed service two hours later at 2:20 p.m., but suspended service again at 3:50 p.m. because TRTC engineers detected unusual noises coming from the rotating tires that drive the cabins at one of the terminals.

Service had not resumed as of press time Tuesday night.

Local media reported that "system abnormality" was the cause of the breakdown, but TRTC did not confirm the report.

The transit company said there were no passengers trapped in the cable cars when the service was suspended, but was reluctant to speculate on the cause of the glitch, saying the matter was still under investigation. It also would not comment on when service would resume.

Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin （郝龍斌） reiterated on Tuesday at a city hall meeting that the gondola was safe, and that the cable car ride would not be closed.

The operating speed has been reduced to 3 meters per second as an added safety precaution, Hau noted.

Taipei City Secretariat Deputy Director Yang Hsi-an indicated that neither the contractor nor the French manufacturer of the system, POMA, were concerned about the systems safety.

"It would be unfair to the public if the gondola were closed all of a sudden," Yang said.

The official also rejected suggestions from passengers that the gondolas have air conditioning installed, saying that no cable cars in the world were air-conditioned. He said that because cable cars travel at low speeds when they enter and exit the stations, cool air would leak out too easily if they were installed with air conditioners.