The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday it will install more surveillance devices as well as remote monitoring systems at 403 railway crossings nationwide, as a way of reducing losses caused by accidents at railway crossings.
TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said the project is scheduled to be completed by October next year.
According to the TRA, the nation has 557 railway crossings. Statistics from the TRA show that 275 instances of illegal trespassing at railway crossings were recorded between January and September this year. A total of 897 crossing bars were broken. Meanwhile, 16 people died and seven were injured whilst trespassing on the railway crossings illegally.
“Aside from the damages to barriers, it [illegal trespassing] could potentially damage the trains or other facilities,” Chang said. “Some individuals get killed or injured in the accidents, but most of them get away without being punished.”
About 980 barriers were broken over the same period last year, the TRA said.
Chang said that each crossing bar costs NT$2,500, adding that the financial losses caused by the broken crossing bars alone amounted to approximately NT$2.24 million.
Currently, only 170 railway crossings were equipped with surveillance systems and not all of them were digital devices.
While the law authorizes the TRA to make a claim on trespassers if they cause any damage, the TRA has had a little success in doing so. This year, they have only successfully claimed compensation of NT$600,000.
“Whenever we wanted to determine the causes of the accidents, we had to look through the tapes,” Chang said. “If the camera failed to catch the licence plates of the intruding vehicles, we could not punish anyone.”
Chang said the TRA is planning to expand digital surveillance system installations throughout this year. Meanwhile, it will install a remote monitoring system that allows railway police to collect evidence more easily.
“Should railway police see from the monitoring system trespassing pedestrians or vehicles while on duty, they will be able to fine the trespassers immediately,” he said. “And without having to pour over surveillance tapes, we could just type in the dates and the system would show scenes recorded by the system.”
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