1. Accident

2. Victims

3. Investigation
     Driver  

4. Responses
     Memorials  

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

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On 21 October 2018, a passenger train derailed in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187.^[3][6][4] It was Taiwan's worst rail accident since a collision near Miaoli in 1991 which killed 30 people.^[6][9]

Accident

At 16:50 local time (UTC+8), a Puyuma express train, service 6432 from {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Shulin}} bound for {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Taitung}}, derailed on a curve with a radius of {{convert|300|m}} when passing through the {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Xinma}} station in Yilan County, about {{convert|70|km|mi}} from Taipei.^[1][5] There were 366 passengers travelling on the train.^[1][6]

Of the eight carriages, numbers 3 through 8 toppled over and collided into each other in a "W" shape, while the rest went off the track with lesser damage.^[7] The front car was seen tipped over at an angle of 75 degrees, and most of the fatalities are believed to have been in this car.^[8] Survivor accounts claimed that the driver applied the emergency brake multiple times before the incident, and another claimed that the train sped up after the curve.^[9]

All trains in the eastern trunk line were halted in both directions, with replacement bus services provided.^[10] Hundreds of medics and firefighters, and 100 army troops responded to the scene.^[11] As of 21:35 local time all passengers, including the dead, had been removed/evacuated from the wreckage.^[12] The derailment is the worst train accident in Taiwan since 1991, when 30 people were killed in a {{ill|1991 Miaoli train collision|zh|1991年臺鐵造橋列車對撞事故|lt=collision near Miaoli}}.^[13]

Victims

At least 18 people were killed in the accident, with another 187 injured, all on board. According to reports, one of the injured was a United States citizen.^[1]

Six of the dead reportedly were under the age of 18.^[14] Taiwan's Railway Authority confirmed that 8 of the dead were of the same family, and the Health Ministry confirmed that 53 injured remained in the hospital.^[15]

Investigation

The train involved in the accident was built by the Japanese company Nippon Sharyo in 2011, and underwent major maintenance work in 2017.^[16] According to a press release from the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) on 21 October, the cause of the accident is as yet unknown.^[13][8]

On 22 October 2018, it was reported that the driver of the train reported an issue with the main air compressor just before the derailment. The Chief Secretary of Taiwan Railways Administration, Chu Lai-shun, said that a full failure of the main air compressor would cause insufficient power and problems with deceleration, and should not cause a derailment. In addition, the train's automatic train protection (ATP) was disabled shortly before the derailment, which, according to the driver was because of an earlier fault which delayed the train. Prosecutors accused him of negligence for not turning it on again afterwards. Investigators think that without ATP, the train's speed was not properly monitored, which led to the train approaching the curve at a speed of {{cvt|140|kph|mph}}, almost twice the speed limit.^[17][18]

As part of the investigation, all 18 other Puyama trains in service on Taiwanese railways were thoroughly inspected. No fault was found. Nevertheless, a report by Chinese-language Apple Daily Sunday found that Taiwanese trains were experiencing problems with the ATP system, citing anonymous sources from within the TRA.^[19] As the investigation progressed, technical flaws with the connection of the train's protection system to the signalling centre were found with the Puyama trains,^[20] and Japanese manufacturer Nippon Sharyo promised the Taiwanese government it would fix the flaw by the 11 November, with testing and certification expected to take a month.^[21]

Driver

The driver of the train was granted bail of {{ntd|500000|linked=yes}} (US$16,167) on 23 October, after he had been detained for investigation.^[23]

Responses

President Tsai Ing-wen called the accident a "major tragedy" and directed the government and military to "step up" rescue efforts.^[24] The President also called for an investigation into the crash, that would "make clear the timing and situation of the whole accident".^[9] In addition, "drastic reform of the TRA to restore public confidence in the safety of railway transportation" is to be carried out.^[19]

As a result of the incident, the Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang halted campaigning for the November local elections.^[5]

The Taipei Blood Donation Centre issued a press release that highlighted local blood donation centres and urged blood donors to donate.^[25]

Memorials

President Tsai met with relatives of the dead and injured on 22 October. She joined Buddhist monks in prayer at an altar next to the hospital.^[14]

See also

Other similar railway incidents:

• United Kingdom Morpeth rail crashes, 1969, 1984, 1994 – a total of 6 killed in three separate accidents
• Australia Waterfall train disaster, 2003 – 7 killed
• Japan Amagasaki derailment, 2005 - 107 killed
• Spain Santiago de Compostela derailment, 2013 – 79 killed
• United States Spuyten Duyvil derailment, 2013 – 4 killed
• United States 2015 Philadelphia train derailment – 8 killed
• United States 2017 Washington train derailment - 3 killed

• United Kingdom Southall rail crash, 1997 – 7 killed

References

External links

• {{Commons category-inline|2018 Yilan train derailment}}

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