The government must establish an external team to supervise the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) operations after train services were disrupted during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend by a malfunctioning signaling system, the New Power Party (NPP) caucus told a news conference yesterday.
The Control Yuan on Wednesday last week passed a resolution to impeach Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications and former acting TRA director-general Chi Wen-chung (祁文中), former TRA director-general Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) and former TRA construction engineering department head Chen Chung-chun (陳仲俊) for dereliction of duty, NPP Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said.
Control Yuan members said that one of the main reasons leading to the Taroko Express derailment last year — which killed 49 passengers and injured more than 200 — was the TRA’s failure to thoroughly address more than 100 problems cited in a report published by the Executive Yuan following the derailment of a Puyuma Express train in Yilan in 2018, she said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“The Ministry of Transportation and Communications [MOTC] and top TRA officials decided to deregulate certain issues cited in the Executive Yuan report. It was the negligence of government officials that led to the tragedy last year,” Chen said.
“Chi should take full responsibility and resign voluntarily,” she said.
The Control Yuan’s impeachment of MOTC and TRA officials and the malfunctioning train signaling system in Changhua County during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend shows that officials at both agencies were negligent when they deregulated issues that should not have been deregulated, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
A woman, who represents family members of victims of the Taroko Express derailment, said the impeachment was belated justice.
All the families of victims hope the government means business by making the TRA safer, not just chanting slogans, she said.
The Executive Yuan should have an external team supervise the TRA’s operations to reform the agency, she said.
Chen Meng-hsiu (陳孟秀), a lawyer who represents families of people killed in the Taroko Express derailment, said that her clients saw a glimmer of hope for reform at the railway agency.
The corporatization of TRA would not end the problems plaguing it, Chen said, adding that having an external team supervise the agency should be the first step in its reform.
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