The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday reprimanded several Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) officials, including three former heads of the agency, over the derailment of Puyuma Express No. 6432 in Yilan County on Oct. 21.
The ministry’s personnel review committee decided to hand down one major demerit each to former TRA directors-general Frank Fan (范植谷), Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) and Jason Lu (鹿潔身), who oversaw the operation of Puyuma Express trains delivered in 2012, the ministry told a news conference.
The ministry acknowledged the results of an Executive Yuan investigation that said that the crash — which killed 18 people and shook the public’s trust in the nation’s railways — was caused by a number of organizational, equipment, procedural, personnel and environmental factors.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Railways Administration
The three former heads of the agency are accountable for the “poor safety culture of the organization” and “unsatisfactory safety procedures” that were among the causes cited by the report, the ministry said.
Separately yesterday, the TRA said that its review committee disciplined 17 other officials, including Ho Hsien-lin (何獻霖), the deputy director-general of the agency who received a major demerit and was relieved of his post.
The other 16 personnel, whose roles include mechanical engineering, train coordination and business operations, received punishments ranging from warnings to major demerits, it said.
The agency apologized to the families of those killed or injured in the incident, saying that the disciplinary measures cannot bring back the dead and are of no comfort to the 273 passengers who were hurt.
It added that it would compensate the families beyond what is legally required whenever possible.
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