TR could penalize man for trespassing on railway tracks

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The Taiwan Railway Corp. (TR) said on Saturday that it could levy penalties on a man if he is found to have trespassed on the railway tracks at a station in New Taipei on Friday afternoon.

The TR said that if the identified man is found to have deliberately gone onto the tracks, he would face criminal charges and fines for violating the Railway Act.

At around 6 p.m. on Friday, a man dropped onto the tracks at Fuzhou Station in New Taipei's Banqiao District, as alert lights flashed to signal the arrival of Tze-Chiang Limited Express Train No. 176.

The train was subsequently stalled at the station. But, after searching for almost three hours, neither firefighters nor police officers had found any trace of the man.

The New Taipei Fire Department said that after combing through security footage, officials from the TR and the Railway Police Bureau (RPB) found evidence of a man rolling over the tracks before climbing over a wall and leaving the station.

Officials then terminated the search around 9 p.m. and Tze-Chiang No. 176 was cleared to leave the station.

Speaking with CNA on Saturday, railway police said a 50-year-old man, surnamed Liang (梁), called the RPB at 12:36 a.m. on Saturday, claiming to be the individual who "fell" on the tracks at the station.

Liang then turned himself in at the RPB Banqiao precinct at 2:17 a.m.

He was subsequently transferred to the New Taipei District Prosecutor's Office and is being investigated for endangering public safety.

Railway police said that Liang claimed to have sustained minor injuries to his legs and waist.

The precinct chief added that an investigation found no damage to the train or traces of blood.

The police did not further divulge what they suspect Liang's intentions to be.

Meanwhile, the TR said with the suspension of Tze-Chiang No. 176, 58 trains were delayed by a total of 3,200 minutes -- an average of around 55 minutes.

The TR said if it proves Liang was on the tracks on purpose, he would be hit with fines for disrupting train services and violating Article 57 of Taiwan's Railway Act.