Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) and the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) are collectively seeking restitution of nearly NT$79 million (US$2.7 million) from Southeast Cement Corp for disrupting railway service on Friday last week, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
The day before the nation was to observe a four-day Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend, a cement storage facility at the company’s Kaohsiung plant collapsed and crushed an electric tower. Power supply to the high-speed rail system was subsequently cut off, crippling train operations between Tainan and Kaohsiung’s Zuoying Station.
To restore power to the high-speed railway, power was temporarily suspended on the TRA, disrupting railway service to stations in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih (楠梓) and Zuoying (左營) districts.
Wang told Chinese National Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) that the two railway operators are seeking compensation of NT$78.63 million from Southeast Cement — NT$66.8 million for THSRC and NT$11.83 million for the TRA.
The Kaohsiung City Government is seeking NT$6 million in compensation from Southeast Cement and its contractors for causing delays to more than 120,000 travelers on one of the most important national holidays of the year.
Southeast Cement senior manager and spokesman Vance Huang (黃薪翰) said that the company takes legal responsibility for the incident and respects the railway operators’ decision to seek compensation.
The company is considering seeking restitution from the contractor, he added.
Wang also told the committee that the ministry would tell the public next week how it plans to respond if TRA employees do not show up for work on May 1 for International Workers’ Day.
The Taiwan Railway Labor Union (TRLU) on March 23 voted not to work on May 1 to protest the ministry’s plan to turn the agency into a state-run corporation.
The Taiwan Railway Union said that it would join TRLU members in the protest.
Fifty-four percent of the tickets for train services on May 1 have been sold in a presale session that began on Friday last week, the TRA said.
“TRA employees are entitled to take International Workers’ Day off based on the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法). It is their right,” Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the committee meeting. “I will wish them a happy International Workers’ Day, but holiday travelers will not be too happy about it. I will continue to communicate with union members and hope that they will reconsider.”
Wang told the committee that he has agreed to highlight the importance of railway safety in a draft statute governing the establishment of a Taiwan Railway Corp, adding that he would continue to work with the unions until they reach a consensus on the draft.
“Should we fail to reach a consensus over unresolved issues with the draft statute in our meeting with union members next week, the ministry will prepare a contingency plan for a potential railway service disruption on May 1,” Wang said.
The ministry should know by next week the number of TRA workers who plan to take that day off, he said.
The Directorate-General of Highways has a well-established shuttle bus plan that uses tour buses to transport railway travelers in case of an incident, Wang said.
Last week, the shuttle bus plan helped transport high-speed rail passengers affected by the power outage.
The committee yesterday passed a motion requiring the ministry to communicate with all three TRA unions to reach a consensus before the committee begins deliberations on the draft statute.
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