The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday said it would amend the terms of the leasing of train carriages after media reported that some people may have abused the service to host sex parties.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily said on Thursday that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) had received complaints over an online article saying that a group of 25 people had used a TRA parlor car to hold what was described as a sex party.
The report also said that the party organizer required all the men to dress in a suit and tie, and the women to wear formal office attire. Once aboard, the organizer allowed the men to perform sexual acts with a 19-year-old woman, as two female assistants stood by providing condoms and towels.
To protect the privacy of those attending the party, the organizer locked the door to the carriage and lowered the curtains. None of the attendees were allowed to videotape or take photos of the party.
One of attendees even posted comments online thanking the female assistants, the party organizer and the sexy “goddess,” as well as the TRA for the party.
However, the report made no mention of whether the journalist had verified the details with the alleged attendee.
In response, the TRA said that the application to use the parlor car was filed on Feb. 1. The parlor car was part of a Chukuang-class train that ran from Cidu (七堵) to Greater Kaohsiung last Sunday.
The application showed that the group consisted of 25 people. They were scheduled to board the train at Taipei at 3:25pm and disembark at Jhunan (竹南) at 5:15pm.
The TRA said that the train master started inspecting the carriages after the train left Taipei, but that the group asked service personnel to leave the carriage because they were having a meeting and did not want to be disturbed. They locked the door to prevent others from entering the carriage.
“The train master tried to check out the situation from the platform, but all the curtains were closed and he couldn’t see what was going on inside,” said Chan Hung-chang (詹鴻漳), director of the TRA’s transportation department. “After the group disembarked at Jhunan, the train master and cleaning personnel entered the carriage and found nothing unusual.”
Chan said that the railway police had started an investigation into whether the newspaper report was true.
Yeh said the incident would be outrageous if it were true.
“They [the group] used the train carriage to host a sex party this time, others may use it to have a drugs party,” Yeh said.
The TRA said applicants wishing to lease parlor cars in future would be required to sign an affidavit, which will hold them responsible for any act that might disrupt public safety or social order. Passengers engaging in any illegal activities would violate the Railway Act (鐵路法), it said.
Should passengers lock the door to the carriage and refuse to open it, the TRA said it would report the matter to police immediately.
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