Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp on Friday announced proposals to improve its protocols after an MRT train crashed into a fallen construction boom, killing a passenger.
On Wednesday last week, a boom separated from a crane atop a residential building under construction near the Feng-le Park MRT Station in Nantun District (南屯), falling 31 stories onto the tracks shortly before the Green Line train departed from the station and ran into the metal wreckage.
Legal academic and indigenous rights advocate Lin Shu-ya (林淑雅) was killed and 10 people were injured.
Photo courtesy of Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp via CNA
Taichung MRT proposed three changes to its protocols together with the introduction of two potential hardware updates.
The first change would enhance and standardize its emergency alert hand signals, it said.
If a station employee witnesses a potential accident, they would be required to raise and cross their arms to form an “x” to warn employees on the train, giving them time to contact the system’s operation center and request that the train be stopped.
The second proposal is to encourage passengers who witness an accident to prevent the doors from closing, which would stop the train from leaving the station.
The third proposal would seek to ensure that Taichung MRT employees on trains can readily access their tool bags so it would be easier to stop the train.
Two hardware updates are also to be introduced, including emergency buttons in stations and smart detection devices that are better at recognizing obstacles than existing equipment, the company said.
Lin was discovered underneath a train car about 51 minutes after the collision occurred.
The train ran into the boom at 12:27pm, prompting MRT employees to evacuate passengers and help the injured at 12:58pm.
Company president Chuang Ming-tsung (莊明璁) said that Lin was not discovered for nearly an hour because the company’s standard operating procedures require employees to search the inside of cars once an emergency occurs and the doors open.
Current procedures do not include searching the outside and underneath the train cars, Chuang said, adding that the company would meet to discuss changing the procedure.
The Taiwan Bar Association on Saturday released a joint statement to convey their condolences at losing a distinguished colleague and suggested improvements to public safety procedures.
The association said that companies should employ impartial third-party experts to inspect construction sites using large-scale machinery.
It also said that traffic restrictions should be implemented in areas where construction work is occurring to allow for easy access for first responders in the event of an accident.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS