Railway section in Hualien reopens after train incident

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) A section of the west main railway line in Hualien resumed operations Saturday after an express train accident the previous day, which was caused by landslide debris on the tracks, according to Taiwan Railway Corp. (TR).

Nine people, including the driver, were injured when the No. 229 Tze-Chiang Limited Express ran over some rocks on the tracks and partly derailed inside the Qingshui Tunnel, between Chongde and Heren, at around 4:50 p.m. Friday.

The 500-plus passengers were helped off the train and transported back to Hualien Station, with the help of TR personnel who were dispatched to the site about 20 minutes after the accident.

In a statement Saturday, TR said the tracks had been cleared of debris, and trains had started running again in both directions on that section of the railway at around 1:47 p.m., but their speed had been temporarily limited to 30 kilometers per hour as a safety precaution.

The landslide was caused by the heavy rain in recent days, TR said, adding that it will work to improve its early warning systems to prevent similar accidents.

At a press briefing Saturday, TR Chairman Tu Wei (杜微) said that while the east main line is equipped with an early warning system, the section of the west main line where the accident occurred does not have such a system because there had been no recorded incidents of rockfalls there prior to Friday.

TR will improve the safety of that section of the line by installing an early warning system on the tracks, he said.

Meanwhile, Tu said that the eight passengers who were injured on EMU3000 inter-city Tze-Chiang express train had suffered only minor wounds and had all been discharged from hospital.

The driver, meanwhile, has had surgery for a fractured hand and is still in hospital, Tu said.

Also on Saturday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) apologized for the accident, saying that he has issued a directive, through the transportation ministry, for TR to thoroughly and effectively improve railway safety as soon as possible.