The three key Taiwan Railways Administration employees charged for last year’s Puyuma Express derailment all pleaded innocent at the Yilan District Court yesterday.
They were train driver Yu Chen-chung (尤振仲); Liu Tsan-huang (柳燦煌), former deputy head of the Locomotive Department; and Wu Jung-chin (吳榮欽), former head of the central dispatch center.
A number of passengers who had sustained serious injuries also attended the hearing. Some of them broke down while giving testimony.
Puyuma Express No. 6432 derailed on Oct. 21 last year while approaching a bend near Suao Township’s (蘇澳) Sinma Station (新馬) in Yilan County. Eighteen people were killed and more than 200 were injured.
Prosecutors said that Yu should be held responsible, as he switched off the automatic train protection (ATP) system, allowing the train to travel over the speed limit.
Liu was charged because it was alleged that he had failed to note the absence of a remote monitoring system linking the ATP system with the central dispatch center when he was inspecting the trains before taking delivery of them from the Japanese manufacturer.
The absence of the link meant that central dispatch was unaware that the ATP had been disabled, prosecutors said.
Wu was charged for failing to report numerous problems with the ATP system that had been recorded since 2014, prosecutors said.
However, none of the defendants admitted guilt.
“I operated the train by following the proper procedures, so I plead not guilty,” Yu said.
Liu and Wu said the main cause of the derailment was the train’s excessive speed — 141kph — before it entered a bend in the railway, for which they should not be held accountable.
A schoolteacher surnamed Hung (洪), who was injured in the crash, scolded Yu, saying: “Where is your moral courage to admit wrongdoing? This is not what we teach to kids.”
The driver should have made every effort to slow down and stop the train, after finding that there were problems, but Yu did not, because he was afraid of being reprimanded by his supervisor, Hung said.
Another victim, a woman surnamed Tang (唐), broke down in tears when giving her testimony, saying that she still has painful memories of the derailment.
“To this day, I am still scared and unable to take a train,” she said.
Yilan Chief Prosecutor Chiang Chen-yu (江貞諭) castigated the three defendants, saying that they must own up to the facts.
Accompanied by his lawyer, Yu said that he would bear any responsibility for which he is held accountable.
In response to Hung saying he lacked “moral courage,” Yu said that he had not tried to evade his responsibilities.
Liu told reporters that both he and the TRA had offered an apology to the families of the deceased and those injured in the accident, but declined to comment further, while Wu left the court quickly without speaking to reporters.
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