The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is reviewing all of the nation’s railway systems to determine whether they are able to prevent foreign objects from intruding on tracks.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯) made the comment yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, where he was scheduled to brief lawmakers about strategies to attract international travelers in the post-COVID-19 era.
However, lawmakers focused on how the ministry would address safety issues with the Taichung MRT system, after a train on Wednesday hit a crane boom that had fallen onto the tracks, killing one person and injuring 10.
Photo: CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) asked whether the ministry has reviewed how different special municipalities enforce rules regarding construction and the range of restricted areas on both sides of MRT routes.
Hung also asked how many real-estate construction projects there are along the MRT routes in the six special municipalities and whether there might be safety concerns.
“Like the Taichung MRT Green Line, many of the MRT services have trains operating under the control of the traffic control center, rather than drivers. Each train has a train attendant and should be equipped with a system to detect foreign objects on railway tracks. However, none of these mechanisms functioned last week to prevent the tragedy from happening,” Hung said.
Chen said the ministry has since last week asked local governments to report whether there are real-estate projects along the MRT routes in their localities that could compromise safety.
“We will talk to local government officials to see if their MRT systems have adequate mechanisms in place to prevent the intrusion of foreign objects on railway tracks,” he said. “They will be asked to change the standard operating procedures to handle the intrusion of foreign objects, including procedures to be followed by train attendants and service personnel on platforms.”
This week, the Taiwan Railways Administration and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp were asked to review their ability to handle foreign objects on railway tracks.
Construction is prohibited within 6m of an MRT system, and there are restrictions for construction projects that are within 7m to 50m of an MRT system.
The Taichung City Government said that the construction project involved in last week’s deadly incident did not contravene the rules.
Chen added that the ministry would this week start uploading measures online that would be adopted by local governments to improve pedestrian safety at intersections near 423 schools, as well as intersections where accidents often occur nationwide.
People can track the progress of improvement online, he added.
The ministry began to address pedestrian safety after Taiwan was called a “living hell” for pedestrians by news media and advocacy groups.
The issue gained urgency after a three-year-old girl was killed by a vehicle when crossing a street with her mother in Tainan on Monday last week.
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