Well, do we have something high tech that could “see” the obstacle and stop the train like it does cars?
I would think any automated train system are going to have a bunch of sensors to sense any obstruction and stop the system in milliseconds. Maybe the system isn’t working properly.
There was hit detection but no hit indicator. So when the train hit the crane it stopped immediately but there should be sensors on it too to detect any object on the track especially it’s a driverless train.
Also from footage I saw the guy who noticed the object falling on track had a lot of time but was slow. And many people got out . It was like the train stopped and while it was stopped and crane fell. The platform conductor and people saw it and he had time to tell the train conductor women who was out to see monitor but for some reason he just went to the front and only waved hands when train started
Not blaming anyone but I think it’s an accident that could be avoided easily.
There’s lots of reason for stuff to end up on the track, so there should have been some kind of sensor to detect it and stop the system and sound an alarm. I would think these automated system err on the side of caution. So there’s failure there too.
Yes. I watched it a few times and he noticed it first. Instead of telling her or blocking the doors so it couldn’t leave the station, he got on the radio and didn’t signal the train conductor until it was already moving.
A young guy jumped out at the last second. Lucky guy.
It was designed years ago, built in 2017 so older than most modern car detection devices.
We know what happened, so when we watch the video from the station we know what we are seeing. I don’t know if that was so obvious at that moment. If they heard something, maybe they thought about a car accident below on the street. They may thought the train wasn’t going to restart the journey. They may needed a second look to believe what was happening.
Anyway, it’s clear that some protocols need to be readjusted.
Quite a big discrepancy between this and the NT$7.5 million Costco was fined for selling the contaminated berries (which apparently haven’t hurt anyone yet).
the reason may be that the big red button is not actually a direct braking device, rather it is an emergency signal to alert another system or operator to stop at a next suitable safe spot (for example in case of fire in a tunnel, would be better to move to a station or open space, probably) - I’ve seen words to this effect alongside red buttons on some other trains, at least. So I guess the key-operated one would have been the correct one to go for in this case
Every automated machines I’ve seen, like CNC machines, lasers, etc. all have a big red button that cuts power to the machine NOW when pressed. I find it foolish that an automated rail system doesn’t have such easily accessible button.
Because automated machine does what you tell it, not what you want it to do. So programming does get corrupted, safeguards can fail, etc. and this is why every automated equipment has an operator standing by to push this big red button before it does anything that’s going to damage stuff.
The fact that they gotta find some key to shut something off tells me that this is a contingency system failure.
it’s a dilemma, problem being vandals and pranksters
Taiwan has extensive CCTV network, any vandals will find themselves having to explain to officers and probably end up with huge fines/jail time for this stuff.
It looks like safety system on the Taichung MRT system is severely lacking. There’s no emergency brake system that stops the trains immediately like Taipei MRT does, and the button only stops the train at the next station. Also the track obstruction system only has “feelers” that must be tripped for the system to register a fault, there’s no radar/lidar systems or signalling systems that can detect a fault if any point of the track is obstructed.
It’s a shit system, and I imagine Taichung MRT will be paying liability too.
There are sensors in front of the train that can detect foreign objects on the track and then put the train to a stop. But since the crane was suspended over the track in midair, it escaped detection.
Is this a mistranslation? Doesn’t the train already stop at all stations? So the button is useless?
No it’s not a mistranslation. I can read Chinese just fine.
The system is basically shit, and one has to wonder why it’s even like this. Any automated system should always have the ability to immediately stop it should it start doing something dangerous, because safeguards can’t be relied on, just like you can’t start pointing guns at people and pulling the trigger with the safety on because safeties can and do fail.
The Taipei MRT has a button on the platform that if you mash it causes all the trains to stop immediately. Yes it can be misused by pranksters or whatever but there’s gigantic fines for this. Why doesn’t Taichung MRT have it, and why is it even allowed to not have it? Nobody should have to find a key to stop the train when something happens.
English article about the victim.
Lin was a Doctor of Laws, an assistant professor at Taichung’s Providence University (靜宜大學), and an enduring advocate for Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples and environment, per CNA. Lin had also served as the head of Amnesty International’s Taiwan branch, the secretary general of the Taiwan Association of Human Rights, and a member of Taiwan’s committee on transitional justice for Indigenous people.
If that is true, the system should not have been put into service. The trains mostly run inside a semi-tunnel with low risk of objects getting in, but there is a real chance of the barrier themselves causing the problem. So anything the train can possible hit should be detected by sensors. Unbelievable that in this time and age with so many advanced automatic driving system being tested, that there is such a glaring safety hole.
Regarding the video, Taichung Metro Chief of Operations Hsu Tai-ming explained that all Taichung MRT trains have a two-meter long sensor on the front car, which activates the emergency brakes if it comes into contact with a foreign object on the tracks.
However, the MRT network does not have an intrusion detection system surrounding the tracks, which means that if a foreign object does not land on top of the tracks or disturb any electrical equipment, it will not trigger an emergency notification, Hsu said.
I now wonder how the trains are set in motion after stopping at a station. There has to be some human input/control to make sure no one is entering/exiting the train, right? Who is that person and how did s/he not receive the warning/order to stop the train?
Also, why on earth did the station manager not tell the control center to hold the car first, then check the tracks?
Why on earth did the security guy or anyone else on the platform stick a foot in one of the car entrances to prevent the doors from closing? Looks like it could have been prevented easily.
This is almost like a parody.