Xinma Railway Accident

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Cleaning up after the accident
Emergency services at the site of the accident

The railway accident Xinma occurred on October 21, 2018 near the station Xinma ( 新馬車站 ), in the municipality of the city su'ao in Yilan County ( Taiwan ).

the accident

Against about 16:50 local time derailed the Puyuma-Express 6432 ( 普悠瑪號 , Pǔyōumǎ Hào ) in a curve from the entrance to the station Xinma. The train was on its way from Shulin ( New Taipei ) to Taitung . All eight railroad cars , in which there were 366 passengers, derailed . In the accident , 18 travelers were killed and 187 others were injured. Then there was a large-scale deployment of rescue workers using army units, which dragged on into the night.

The train was only six years old and, according to the Taiwan Railway Administration, was in good condition. The multiple units (model TEMU2000) were procured from Nippon Sharyo in Japan in 2012 . These are multiple units with tilting technology and a top speed of 130 km / h. When they were put into service, several platforms had to be rebuilt due to the tilting technology.

The accident was the most serious in Taiwan since two trains collided in Miaoli County in 1991, killing 30 and injuring 112. The worst railway accident in Taiwan’s post-war history occurred on March 8, 1981 in Hsinchu County when the Tzuchiang Express ran into a gravel truck at a railroad crossing. Four railroad cars fell into a river. 30 people died and 130 were injured.

Cause of accident

The cause of the accident was initially unclear. Eyewitnesses reported a loud noise and subsequent spark generation shortly before the event. The driver tried several times to trigger the emergency brake. The derailment of the train was recorded by a video surveillance camera. One day after the accident, the driver announced that he had switched off the train's automatic speed control system before the accident. Initial investigations suggested that the train had entered the curve at a significantly excessive speed of 140 km / h instead of the planned 60–70 km / h. An investigative commission came to the conclusion on October 22, 2018 that excessive speed was the main cause of the accident. A problem with an air compressor had caused the multiple unit to arrive at Yilan station 14 minutes late . In order to catch up with the delay, the train driver had then accelerated the train on instructions from his superiors. However, since he had only jumped in temporarily and did not know the route, he was not familiar with the curve at Xinma station. In this context, railway experts expressed criticism of the Taiwanese Railway Administration (TRA), which would operate too tight personnel management, which leads to safety risks.

Web links

Commons : Xinma Railway Accident  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Taiwan train derailment in Yilan County kills at least 18. BBC News, October 21, 2018, accessed October 26, 2018 .
  2. ↑ TRA Trains Overview. Taiwan Railway Administration, October 21, 2018, accessed October 21, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Tsen Hung-ju, Jake Chung: Train platforms altered to make way for tilted train. Taipei Times, November 22, 2012, accessed November 22, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Lee Seok Hwai: Frantic search for survivors in Taiwan train disaster. The Straits Times, November 22, 2012, accessed November 22, 2012 .
  5. ↑ Shelley Shan: Derailment kills 18, injures as least 171. November 22, 2012, accessed on November 22, 2012 (English).
  6. ↑ Train underwent multiple emergency brakes before accident. The China Post, November 22, 2012, accessed November 21, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Chris Horton: 8 Members of Family Killed in Taiwan's Worst Rail Crash in Decades. The New York Times, November 22, 2012, accessed November 22, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Taiwan train crash driver disabled speed controls. BBC News, October 23, 2018, accessed December 23, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Keoni Everington: ATP disabled before deadly Puyuma Express derailment in Taiwan's Yilan County. Taiwan News, October 22, 2018, accessed October 25, 2018 .
  10. ^ Ku Chuan, Lee Hsin-Yin: Speeding the cause of deadly derailment: Executive Yuan task force. Focus Taiwan, October 22, 2018, accessed October 29, 2018 .
  11. ↑ David Spencer: Taiwan train crash driver admits blame while his impossible situation points a finger at TRA. Taiwan News, October 24, 2018, accessed October 25, 2018 .

Coordinates: 24 ° 36 ′ 55.1 ″  N , 121 ° 49 ′ 22.3 ″  E