The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday said it plans to spend about NT$430 million (US$12.99 million) on building galvanized wire mesh fences along some railway sections considered to be high-risk to reduce casualties caused by trespassing on the tracks.
Administration figures showed that more than 400 accidents have occurred on railway tracks in the past six years, killing 330 people and injuring 211. More than half, or 55 percent, of the casualties occurred as a result of people walking, running or lying on the tracks, with some jumping from platforms onto tracks, the administration said.
This year, trespassing at railway crossings has caused four accidents, killing two people, while trespassing on other railway sections has caused seven accidents, killing six people and injuring one other.
Due to an increase in deaths as a result of trespassing, the administration said that it would install galvanized wire mesh fences along high-risk railway sections this year.
TRA Department of Construction deputy director Chen Chong-chun (陳仲俊) said that the fences cover a total distance of 175km and are to be installed along railway sections that trespassers can enter easily.
The administration said 70 percent of accidents caused by trespassers occurred on tracks along the nation’s west coast, with the section between Yingge Railway Station (鶯歌) in New Taipei City and Pusin Railway Station (埔心) in Taoyuan County recording the most accidents involving trespassing.
The section between Yongkang (永康) and Baoan (保安) stations in Tainan is also considered a high-risk area, despite the names of the two stations meaning “forever healthy” and “god-blessed safety” respectively, it said.
Other high-risk sections include the tracks between Fongyuan (豐原) and Wuri (烏日), as well as between Qingshui (清水) and Longjing (龍井) in Taichung, it added.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
RSS