A southbound Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) commuter train was delayed for about 30 minutes on Sunday morning when a passenger got into a verbal and physical fight with the train conductor for allegedly refusing to wear a mask during the trip.
“We have asked the Railway Police Bureau to investigate the evidence and turn it over to the Keelung City Health Bureau, which would issue a fine to the passenger in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治條例),” said Ku Shih-yen (古時彥), director of the TRA’s Taipei transportation division.
“We have also offered the conductor full legal support if she decides to sue the passenger,” Ku added.
According to the TRA, the conductor was inspecting the tickets of passengers aboard commuter train No. 4121 while it was traveling between Baifu (百福) and Cidu (七堵) railway stations in Keelung.
One man had taken off his mask to chew betel nuts, so the conductor asked him to put it back on.
The man refused to comply, verbally abused the conductor, then physically attacked her, the agency said.
The conductor immediately contacted the railway police in Cidu, who arrested the passenger when the train arrived at Baifu Railway Station, the agency said.
All passengers on board were asked to disembark and take the next commuter train, it said, adding that the Baifu Railway Station deputy station master also boarded the train to protect the conductor until the train arrived at Shulin (樹林) Railway Station.
The incident was the first case in which the railway operator refused to carry a passenger for refusing to wear a mask on board, a new disease-prevention policy implemented on Wednesday last week.
Passengers whose temperature exceeds 37.5°C using a forehead thermometer are also not allowed to board, the TRA said.
Statistics from the TRA’s 239 railway stations showed that about 500 passengers arriving daily at stations did not have a face mask on.
About two-thirds of them followed the advice of train station staff to buy a mask at a convenience store or drug store before re-entering the station, while one-third gave up on taking the train to avoid the hassle.
A person who refused to wear a mask when entering the Taichung Railway Station at about 11pm on Sunday was taken away by the Railway Police for yelling at the deputy station master.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS