CONTROVERSIAL: Sentences of up to nearly nine years are likely to be appealed, as homicide rather than negligence was more apparent, prosecutors and families saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Taiwan Transportation Safety Board Chairman Young Hong-tsu (楊宏智) yesterday said that he supports the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ plan to corporatize the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).
Young made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, at which the board published the results of its investigation into the derailment of a train in Hualien County on April 2 last year.
The southbound Taroko Express No. 408 crashed inside the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Sioulin Township (秀林) after hitting a crane truck that had slid onto the tracks from a service road, derailing it.
Forty-nine people were killed and 213 were injured.
After a
Relatives of the 49 people who died in a Taroko Express train crash in Hualien County last year gathered yesterday to commemorate their loved ones on the first anniversary of the incident.
More than 40 mourners gathered at the crash site near the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) for the commemoration.
An EMU3000 train with the number 408, the same as the one that crashed, stopped temporarily near the tunnel entrance to blow its horn in honor of the victims before continuing its southbound journey.
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said that the EMU3000 has been used in lieu of the Taroko Express since the
The New Power Party (NPP) caucus yesterday urged the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to speed up its train safety reforms, as the agency has shown only minor improvements.
The Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications should examine whether the railway agency has fulfilled the pledges it made to ensure a safe railway service, the NPP caucus said.
The caucus said it hosted a media conference on the urgency of railway safety reform at the TRA, as it would soon be one year since Taroko Express No. 408 derailed in Hualien County on April 2 last year, killing 49 people