The conductor deemed responsible for the fatal 2018 derailment of a Puyuma Express train was yesterday sentenced to four years and six months in prison for negligent homicide, while two Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) officials were found not guilty.
The Yilan District Court determined that the cause of the crash on Oct. 21, 2018, which killed 18 people and injured 200, was the direct result of conductor Yu Chen-chung (尤振仲) turning off the automatic train protection (ATP) system after mistakenly attributing it to power failures originating from the air compression system.
Without the ATP system, which automatically slows the train when it is moving too fast, the southbound No. 6432 train entered a curve near Sinma Station (新馬) in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳) at nearly twice the permissible speed, causing it to derail, the court found.
Photo: Reuters
According to the ruling, Yu at 3:39pm notified dispatch of an abnormality with the train’s air compression system, then at 4:17pm turned off the ATP system.
After departing from Luodong Station (羅東), the train accelerated to 140kph while approaching a curve rated for at most 75kph, causing the derailment at 4:49pm, the court said.
Prosecutors said that the train’s management system had indicated a malfunction of its air compression system on the first and eighth carriages, but Yu failed to handle the issue.
The compression brakes and valves had many times displayed insufficient air pressure, resulting in automatic power cuts to prevent excessive speeds, prosecutors said.
Believing that the power disruption was caused by the ATP system, Yu shut off the system without notifying dispatch and failed to turn it back on at the next station in compliance with guidelines, they said.
The court therefore found Yu guilty of negligent homicide, sentencing him to four years and six months in prison in a ruling that can be appealed.
The other two defendants, former TRA Locomotive Department deputy head Liu Tsan-huang (柳燦煌) and former TRA Central Dispatch Center head Wu Jung-chin (吳榮欽), were found not guilty.
Yu’s defense had argued that the accident was caused by long-standing issues with the system and culture within the TRA, while the teams representing Liu and Wu maintained that no causal link could be drawn between their work and the deaths of the passengers.
Yu’s lawyer declined to respond, saying that the full content of the ruling has not yet been released.
The TRA said that it fully cooperated with the investigation and would respect the ruling.
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-yu
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
RSS