The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of Puyuma Express train driver Yu Chen-chung (尤振仲), who was found guilty of negligence after a train derailed in 2018, which claimed the lives of 18 people and left more than 200 injured.
The ruling rejected Yu’s appeal, and upheld the earlier verdict that sentenced Yu to four years and six months in prison, after finding him responsible for the derailment.
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in respective statements said they respect the decision by the court.
TRA officials said they would improve the training program for drivers, enforce working regulations for train crews, and would enforce strict compliance on maintenance and repair work.
New safety policies are in place, including speed controls automatically reducing trains’ speed to 60kph or slower if the automatic train protection system gets shut down, and requiring trains to make an emergency stop if the driver encounters a malfunction, while manually turning off the malfunctioning mechanism would be strictly prohibited.
Yu was driving the southbound Puyuma Express No. 6432 heading for Taitung on Oct. 21, 2018, when it approached the Sinma Station (新馬) in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), entering a curve at almost twice the permitted speed, investigators found.
The first ruling by the Yilan District Court found Yu at fault for the derailment, as it was the direct result of him turning off the automatic train protection system.
Yu had erroneously believed there was a system malfunction, but there had been a power failure originating from the air compression system.
The automatic train protection system is to ensure train safety, and to make continuous checks and monitor that the train is within the speed limit for a particular segment of the line.
The other two defendants, former TRA Locomotive Department deputy head Liu Tsan-huang (柳燦煌) and former TRA Central Dispatch Center head Wu Jung-chin (吳榮欽), were found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Yu and prosecutors objected to the verdicts in the first ruling and filed to appeal.
In the second ruling at the High Court, judges found that Yu was liable due to his misjudgement in turning off the mechanisms for power transmission and the automatic train protection system.
Prosecutors cited evidence that showed that Yu had turned off the automatic train protection system, but did not turn it back on.
Judges in the second ruling found that Yu was in control as the driver, and that turning off the automatic train protection system led to excessive speed going into the curve, resulting in the train derailing.
The ruling found him guilty of negligence, and he was handed a four-year and six-month term.
The Supreme Court confirmed the earlier investigation findings, ruling that Yu was liable for negligence while on duty in his professional capacity, causing the fatal crash.
The court’s decision is final and cannot be appealed.
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