Bureau of High Speed Rail Director Wu Fu-hsiang (吳福祥) said yesterday that the derailment of a high-speed train at Tsoying (左營) Station on Tuesday night occurred as a result of human error.
"Problems have emerged ever since the company began testing the stability of the system last year," Wu said. "And it is a relief that any technical problem happens before the high-speed railway becomes operational."
Wu made the remarks in the legislative transportation committee, at which lawmakers were scheduled to review the budget for the Institute of Transportation under the Ministry for Transportation and Communications (MOTC). Most of the questions, however, were targeted at the derailment accident.
People First Party Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (
"Passengers will be forced to be guinea pigs for the first half year of operation [of the High Speed Rail]," Liu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷) noted that MOTC must conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. Wang suggested that the ministry establish an investigative committee immediately, following procedures similar to those applied after a plane crash.
Wu told the press yesterday evening that the derailment occurred while the company was testing the train on the deployment tracks.
The train was about to back up into one of the deployment tunnels for its 10th test run.
The chief of the train crew, however, failed to notice that the derailer on the tracks was not opened. The rain then derailed, causing the first car to deviate from the track for about 50cm.
According to a THSRC statement, the derailer installed in the high-speed rail system is in fact a safety device to prohibit unauthorized trains from entering the main rail track.
When a train is authorized to enter, the derailer will automatically flip open to allow it to proceed. A train will be forced to go off the track if the system has identified it as unauthorized.
Wu said the train was traveling at 7kph at the time. The damaged parts included the bogie and the obstacle deflector and sand box that were attached to it, seven crossties and five sets of rail clips. The track width was stretched from 1.435mm to 1.453mm.
Wu said that the incident will certainly be included in the inspection report that will be issued by Lloyd's Register.
Media has speculated that language might have played a role in the accident -- the driver was French, the chief of crew Taiwanese and the traffic controler Japanese.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS