2018 Yilan train derailment
{{Short description|2018 rail accident in Taiwan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = 2018 Yilan train derailment
| image = File:10.22 總統視察宜蘭新馬車站並赴蘇澳榮民等醫院探視傷患 (44573992375).jpg
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| image_alt =
| caption = Crashed carriages on the site
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| pushpin_map = Taiwan
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| coordinates = {{coord|24|36|57|N|121|49|24|E|type:event|display=title,inline}}
| date = 21 October 2018
| time = 16:50 local time (UTC+8)
| location = {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Xinma}} station, Su'ao, Yilan County
| location_dir = SE
| location_city = Taipei
| location_dist_km = 70
| location_dist_mi =
| country = Taiwan
| line = Yilan line, {{lnl|Taiwan Railways|Yilan}}
| operator = Taiwan Railways Administration
| owner =
| service = 6432 Puyuma express bound for {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Taitung}}
| type = Derailment
| cause = Excessive speed, inactive automatic train protection system{{cite web |title=臺鐵6432次列車新馬站內正線出軌事故 調查事實、原因及問題改善建議報告 |url=https://www.ey.gov.tw/File/D6C7D96FE919415A?A=C |website=ey.gov.tw |access-date=15 November 2019 |language=zh}}{{cite web |title=The Investigation of TRA Puyuma Derailment Case Has Been Concluded by the Yilan Prosecutors Office's Task Force |url=https://www.ilc.moj.gov.tw/media/183233/%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E5%AE%9C%E8%98%AD%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E6%AA%A2%E5%AF%9F%E7%BD%B2%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E7%A8%BF1080606-eng-final.pdf |website=ilc.moj.gov.tw |access-date=15 November 2019}}
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KBHFa~~14:50~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Shulin}}
BHF~~14:58~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Banqiao}}
BHF~~15:09~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Taipei}}
BHF~~15:16~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Songshan}}
BHF~~16:23~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Yilan}}
BHF~~16:31~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Luodong}}
pBHF~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Dongshan}}
\pBHF\INCIDO~~{{color|red|16:50}}~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Xinma}}, crash site
pBHF~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Su'aoxin}}
BHF~~17:22~~{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Hualien}}
CONTf~~Towards {{stl|Taiwan Railways|Taitung}}
}}
| route_map_state =
| route_map_name = Route map of service 6432
| footnotes = Red timestamp is time of crash, other timestamps are scheduled departures{{cite web|title=臺灣鐵路東部幹線對號快車時刻表 Eastern Mainline Line 樹林→台東 [Shulin→Taitung]|publisher=Taiwan Railways Administration|url=http://163.29.3.98/FullTimeTable/1071020_0/%E6%9D%B1%E9%83%A8%E5%B9%B9%E7%B7%9A(%E6%A8%B9%E6%9E%97%E2%86%92%E5%8F%B0%E6%9D%B1)-20181012%E5%AE%9A%E6%9C%9F%E7%89%88%E6%9C%AC(%E9%80%B1%E6%97%A5).pdf|access-date=22 October 2018|archive-date=22 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022113426/http://163.29.3.98/FullTimeTable/1071020_0/%E6%9D%B1%E9%83%A8%E5%B9%B9%E7%B7%9A(%E6%A8%B9%E6%9E%97%E2%86%92%E5%8F%B0%E6%9D%B1)-20181012%E5%AE%9A%E6%9C%9F%E7%89%88%E6%9C%AC(%E9%80%B1%E6%97%A5).pdf|url-status=dead}}
}}
On 21 October 2018, a passenger train derailed in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187.{{cite web|url=https://udn.com/news/story/7321/3434186|title=不斷更新／普悠瑪列車翻覆意外8節全出軌 18死逾百人傷 - 普悠瑪翻車意外 - 社會 - 聯合新聞網|last=聯合新聞網|access-date=21 October 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/106520|title=UPDATE: Taiwan East Coast Rail Crash in Yilan Kills 17, Injures 120|access-date=21 October 2018 |language=zh-Hant-TW}} At the time, it was Taiwan's deadliest rail accident since a collision near Miaoli in 1991 that killed 30 people.
Derailment
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File:TRA 6432 incident simplified plot EN.svg
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.{{cite news| url= http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201810210014.aspx| title= Train derailment death toll revised to 18| work=Focus Taiwan| date=21 October 2018| access-date=21 October 2018}} There were 366 passengers travelling on the train.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/r-taiwan-train-accident-kills-at-least-17-2018-10|title=Train derails in Taiwan, killing 17 people and injuring at least 132|website=Business Insider }}
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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cna.com.tw/news/firstnews/201810215006.aspx|title=Puyuma Express train derailed in Yilan, killing at least 18, injured over 100. (Chinese)|author=Central News Agency|date=21 October 2018|access-date=21 October 2018}} 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.{{cite news| url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/21/17-dead-taiwan-rail-crash-train-flips/| title= Taiwan rail crash kills 18 as train flips| work=The Daily Telegraph| date=21 October 2018| access-date=21 October 2018}} Survivors said that the driver applied the emergency brake multiple times before the incident, and another claimed that the train sped up after the curve.{{Cite magazine|url=http://time.com/5430768/taiwan-train-derailment-investigation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022150212/http://time.com/5430768/taiwan-train-derailment-investigation/|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 October 2018|title=Taiwan's President Calls for Probe of Fatal Train Crash|last=Jennings|first=Ralph|date=22 October 2018|magazine=Time|language=en|access-date=22 October 2018}}
All trains in the eastern trunk line were halted in both directions, with replacement bus services provided.{{cite news| url= https://international.thenewslens.com/article/106520| title= UPDATE: Taiwan East Coast Rail Crash in Yilan Kills 18, Injures 148| work=The News Lens| date=21 October 2018| access-date=21 October 2018}} Hundreds of medics and firefighters, and 100 soldiers responded to the scene.{{Cite news|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/frantic-search-for-survivors-in-taiwan-train-disaster|title=Frantic search for survivors in Taiwan train disaster|last=hermes|date=22 October 2018|work=The Straits Times|access-date=22 October 2018|language=en}} As of 21:35 local time all passengers, including the dead, had been removed/evacuated from the wreckage.{{Cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-train-crash-yilan-derail-passengers-survivors-escape-10850642|title=Passengers on derailed Taiwan train tell of narrow escape|work=Channel NewsAsia|access-date=22 October 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227123239/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-train-crash-yilan-derail-passengers-survivors-escape-10850642|url-status=dead}} The derailment was the worst train accident in Taiwan since 1991, when 30 people were killed in a collision near Miaoli{{cite news| url= https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/at-least-3-dead-over-20-injured-after-train-derails-in-taiwans-north-eastern-yilan| title=At least 18 dead after train derailed in Taiwan's worst rail disaster in decades| work=The Straits Times| date=21 October 2018| access-date=21 October 2018}} until a train derailment in 2021 killed 49 people in Hualien.{{Cite news |date=2021-04-02 |title=Factbox: Taiwan's worst train accidents |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-train-crashes-factbox-idUSKBN2BP0OQ |access-date=2021-04-02}}
Victims
At least 18 people were killed in the accident, with another 187 injured, all on board.
Six of the dead were reportedly under the age of 18.{{Cite news|url=http://news.trust.org//item/20181022152158-hhhcx/|title="Why?" asks Taiwan mourner after 18 killed in crash of speeding train|work=news.trust.org|access-date=22 October 2018|archive-date=7 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107080711/http://news.trust.org//item/20181022152158-hhhcx/|url-status=dead}} Taiwan's Railway Authority confirmed that eight of the dead were of the same family, and the Health Ministry confirmed that 53 injured passengers remained in the hospital.{{Cite news|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/eight-family-members-among-18-killed-in-rail-crash-in-taiwan|title=Eight family members among 18 killed in rail crash in Taiwan|last=hermes|date=23 October 2018|work=The Straits Times|access-date=23 October 2018|language=en}}
Investigation
The derailed train was built by the Japanese company Nippon Sharyo in 2011, and underwent major maintenance work in 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-45933567|title=台灣鐵路「近30年最慘」翻車意外 事故原因調查中|date=21 October 2018|work=BBC News Chinese|access-date=21 October 2018|language=zh}} 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, but 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 believe that without ATP enabled, 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3558111|title=ATP disabled before deadly Puyuma Express derailment in Taiwan's Yilan County|author=Everington, Keoni|date=22 October 2018|work=Taiwan News|access-date=22 October 2018}}{{cite web |title=Train crash driver disabled speed controls |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45951475 |website=BBC News |access-date=23 October 2018 |date=23 October 2018}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Chen Wei-ting |last2=Wu Hsin-yun |last3=Su Mu-chun |last4=Shih Hsiu-chuan |title=Safety checks show no safety defects on Puyuma trains: TRA {{!}} Society {{!}} FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS |url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201810280013.aspx |website=Focus Taiwan |access-date=28 October 2018}} 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,{{cite web |title=Japanese maker of train in deadly Taiwan crash finds design flaw |url=https://www.fijitimes.com/japanese-maker-of-train-in-deadly-taiwan-crash-finds-design-flaw/ |website=FijiTimes |access-date=11 November 2018 |language=en}} and Japanese manufacturer Nippon Sharyo promised the Taiwanese government it would fix the flaw by 11 November, with testing and certification expected to take a month.{{cite web |last1=Strong |first1=Matthew |title=Japanese manufacturer to fix design flaw in Taiwan Puyuma trains by November 11 |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3570837 |website=Taiwan News |access-date=11 November 2018 |date=8 November 2018}}
= 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-driver-granted-bail-after-18-killed-in-train-crash-10854422|title=Taiwan driver granted bail after 18 killed in train crash|work=Channel NewsAsia|access-date=25 October 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=9 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909042715/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-driver-granted-bail-after-18-killed-in-train-crash-10854422|url-status=dead}}
= Results =
The conclusion of the investigation was announced by a press release on 6 June by the Taiwan Yilan District Prosecutors Office. The direct causes of the incident were found to be excessive speed in the curve and the disabling of the train protection system by the driver, in breach of relevant operating regulations. Issues with the main air compressor were found not to be a contributing factor.
Improper management of the testing process of Puyuma trains, which caused an absence of testing of the ATP remote monitoring system, resulted in an indictment of the former Deputy Director of the TRA's Department of Rolling Stock and of the Chief of TRA's Central Dispatch Office. Other staff involved in the incident, such as dispatchers and mechanics, were found not to be liable, and no evidence of corruption or neglect of duty by public officials was reported.{{cite web |last1=Taiwan Yilan District Prosecutors Office |url=https://www.ilc.moj.gov.tw/media/183233/%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E5%AE%9C%E8%98%AD%E5%9C%B0%E6%96%B9%E6%AA%A2%E5%AF%9F%E7%BD%B2%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E7%A8%BF1080606-eng-final.pdf |title=Press Release|access-date=24 June 2019 |date=6 June 2019}}
In response to views that there were shortcomings in the initial investigation, the Taiwanese government converted the Aviation Safety Council (ASC), which previously only dealt with aviation accidents and incidents, into the comprehensive Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB), which also covers maritime and train accidents and incidents.{{cite news |last1=Shan |first1=Shelley |title=New agency to probe air and land accidents |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/07/15/2003718696 |access-date=15 July 2019 |work=Taipei Times |date=15 July 2019}}
Responses
President Tsai Ing-wen called the accident a "major tragedy" and directed the government and military to "step up" rescue efforts.{{cite web |title=蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen on Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1053971616223264768 |website=Twitter |access-date=21 October 2018 |language=en}} The President also called for an investigation into the crash, that would "make clear the timing and situation of the whole accident". In addition, "drastic reform of the TRA to restore public confidence in the safety of railway transportation" is to be carried out.
As a result of the incident, the Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang halted campaigning for the November local elections.
The Taipei Blood Donation Centre issued a press release that highlighted local blood donation centres and urged blood donors to donate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3557765|title=Blood donations urged after deadly train derailment in Taiwan's Yilan|date=22 October 2018|work=Taiwan News|first=Keoni|last=Everington|access-date=12 January 2020}}
= 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.
= Legal fallout =
In March 2020, three people who worked for the TRA at the time of the derailment were impeached by the Control Yuan.{{cite news |last1=Wang |first1=Cheng-chung |last2=Yeh |first2=Joseph |title=Ex-TRA chief impeached over deadly Puyuma train derailment |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202003100022 |access-date=10 March 2020 |agency=Central News Agency |date=10 March 2020}} In October 2021, the Yilan District Court sentenced the driver of the train to four years and six months imprisonment for negligent homicide.{{cite news |title=Driver involved in Puyuma derailment sentenced to 4.5 years in prison |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202110180013 |access-date=20 April 2022 |agency=Central News Agency |date=18 October 2021}} The court stated that he had inactivated the automatic train protection (ATP) system after passing Fulong because air compressors in the first and eighth cars were shutting down spontaneously, which inhibited acceleration of the train. When the train stopped at Yilan and Luodong, the driver did not reactivate ATP.{{cite news |last1=Liao |first1=George |title=Conductor in train accident that caused 18 deaths in northeast Taiwan sentenced to jail |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4319592 |access-date=20 April 2022 |work=Taiwan News |date=20 April 2022}} Two other Taiwan Railways Administration officials were not guilty.{{cite news |last1=Lin |first1=Ching-lun |last2=Madjar |first2=Kayleigh |title=Puyuma Express driver ruled responsible |url=https://taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2021/10/19/2003766382 |access-date=20 April 2022 |work=Taipei Times |date=19 October 2021}}
See also
Other similar railway incidents:
Excessive speed around curves
- 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
Disabled train protection system
- United Kingdom Southall rail crash, 1997 – 7 killed
References
{{Reflist}}