Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said that he has asked the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to review the punishments handed to former TRA officials over the derailment of Puyuma Express No. 6432 in Yilan County on Oct. 21 last year, adding that the agency should consider releasing the recorded conversations between the train’s driver and the control center if there is no legal issue.
Lin was asked to brief lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee about the establishment of a railway technology research and certification center.
However, the committee meeting focused on how Lin planned to raise penalties for former TRA officials who were allegedly responsible for the fatal railway accident, after local media reported that he had on Tuesday rejected the final report on the accident submitted by the TRA.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Before Lin took office in January, the ministry had ruled that three former TRA directors-general — Frank Fan (范植谷), Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) and Jason Lu (鹿潔身) — were to receive demerits for the accident. Lu was given a major demerit, whereas Fan and Chou were each given a minor demerit.
Another 17 TRA officials were also penalized.
Lu chose to resign and retire, but Chou has since been appointed Tourism Bureau director-general, while Fan was named chairman of the CR Classification Society, a state-affiliated agency.
Although the TRA was asked to revise the final report on the responsibility that should be borne by the TRA officials, it concluded that the punishments handed to them should remain unchanged.
Lin said that Fan was in charge of purchasing and receiving the Puyuma Express trains, but remains the chairman of CR Classification Society, so the public is likely to see it as a sign that the government is not determined to improve the TRA’s operations and to simply let unjust situations continue.
Asked if the ministry has the authority to remove Fan, Lin said that the CR Classification Society is mainly a private institution, and the decision to remove Lin must be made by its board of directors.
However, Fan would no longer be able to represent the Ministry of Transportation and Communications at the society if it is ascertained that he was responsible for the accident last year, Lin said.
“Instead of anger, it pained me to read the TRA report that was left on my desk, especially after I saw that the punishment for former TRA officials remained unchanged,” he said.
The TRA can only regain the public’s trust by making information transparent, Lin said, adding that he had asked the deputy minister of transportation and communications to reconvene the disciplinary meeting so that the punishments could be made to correspond with the results of the administrative investigations.
The TRA last night announced that it would release the recorded conversations between the train driver and the agency’s operation center within two days, after consulting relevant agencies.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number
RSS