The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is to be overhauled and a national transportation safety committee established to investigate any future transportation accident, Premier William Lai (賴清德) told lawmakers yesterday.
“All Puyuma Express trains will go through safety tests and the TRA will undergo an extensive review,” he said during a question-and-answer session when asked about Sunday’s derailment in Yilan County that killed 18 passengers and left 187 injured.
The government plans to merge the agencies now responsible for the safety of aviation, water and road transport and railways into a single committee, he said, promising to have a plan for the committee ready by the end of next month.
Photo: Chen Hsien-yi, Taipei Times
Previous train accidents were investigated by a TRA committee, but its credibility has long been questioned.
Given the enormity of Sunday’s disaster, the Cabinet established a 15-member task force, led by Minister Without Portfolio Wu Tze-cheng (吳澤成) to investigate it. The task force began work on Monday morning.
Asked by lawmakers about the progress of the investigation, Wu said excessive speed has been identified as a primary cause of the accident, but the reason for the speed was not clear.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“The Automatic Train Protection [ATP) system would normally be activated and it would automatically reduce the speed when necessary. We are investigating whether it was shut down manually or due to a malfunction,” he said.
The train was reportedly traveling at 140kph, almost double the 75kph speed limit for curves, when it derailed on a curve near the Sinma Train Station (新馬).
Asked how the government would prevent similar accidents while the investigation is under way, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said the speed limit on curves has been reduced to 40kph and control center staff would supervise drivers to ensure they follow the speed limits.
All 18 Puyuma Express trains would undergo thorough checks by Sunday, Wang said.
Repair work on damaged portions of rail track near the station and electric connections was under way and was expected to be completed by today, he said.
“At the moment, all of the train’s passenger cars have been removed from the tracks. Two were moved to the TRA’s Fugang Depot in Taoyuan and the rest will arrive tonight. We are working on repairing the tracks and electricity,” he said.
“Hopefully, two-way operations on both tracks will resume tomorrow,” he said.
Meanwhile, the driver of the derailed train, surnamed Yu (尤), who has been charged with negligent homicide, was released on NT$500,000 bail yesterday morning after the Yilan District Court on Monday denied prosecutors’ request for him to be detained.
The court said in statement You had told prosecutors that his dashboard speedometer was malfunctioning, so he was operating the train based on his experience.
Yu also told prosecutors that he had turned off the train’s ATP system near Dasi Train Station (大溪) in Yilan County, which was not one of the stops on his route, after the train had problems accelerating, the court statement said.
However, he said he did not turn it back on at the next station on the train’s route, as standard operating procedures require, or at the next station because he was in constant communication with train dispatchers, the court said.
Yu should have been aware of the train’s speed and taken precautions, especially because the ATP was off, the court said.
Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his “solidarity and concern” for all those involved in the derailment, and saying that he would remember those who were killed and their families in his prayers.
The pontiff was “deeply saddened to learn of the train derailment in Yilan County,” said the telegram, which was released by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Monday.
Additional reporting by CNA
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