In a report by Commonwealth Magazine, Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元), an associate professor of urban planning and disaster management at Ming Chuan University, was cited as saying that he refused to take the Puyuma Express when it was first launched in 2013, and instead has taken the slower Tze-Chiang Limited Express to eastern Taiwan over the past five years.
This is how I will do things from now on. Starting this Saturday. Let the tourists from China and tourist agencies fight over those tickets (like they have been doing from the beginning).
The Taiwan government has lavishly invested in flashy infrastructure…
This kind of stands out to me. How many new railway station have been opened in recent years. I probably can name few from the top of my head. Keelung, South Shulin, the underground one in Kaohsiung, the underground one in Hualien (Wuhe?), Taroko, Kaohsiung’s main station (still under construction), and probably a few more
This seems to be a pattern in Taiwan’s infrastructure and urban planning and construction. I guess fixing hazardous electrical wiring, improving sewage disposal and dismantling illegal structures doesn’t look as flashy on election brochures and doesn’t sound as cool in pompous speeches.
That is one of the criticisms againts TRA: that a lot is invested in infrastructure, but not in maintenance.
There is also a serious lagging in human resources. Aside from sheer numbers, it seems that drivers, though they have to pass many tests and qualifications, recently have been skipping the more difficult tests and experience of driving cargo and slower trains, for the easier tests and semi automatic driving of puyuma. That is a problem.
Today I saw on the news confirmation of my theory: yes, it was Taipei who decided that the train, in spite the multiple failures, delays and malfunctions, had to press on until Hualien, even though it was already limping since Ruifang.
This decision was made after the attempt at fixing teh mechanical problem in Yilan failed.
The TRA employee interviewed claims they did not have the resources to move the passengers to another means of transportation -charter buses- and it would take too long/further delays to bring the engine from Hualien, so they decided to keep on driving to Hualien, then switch there. All this is documented in a series of messages by phone.
Not sure if this was already mentioned but one article said the Conductor turned off the Tains Speed Safety and was going twice the safe speed in that turn the moment it derailed.
Why didn’t they drive, like, slowly…? Still would have saved them time and passengers would not have been inconvenienced that much. Well, hindsight is always the best sight.
Excellent but we are using English here and a conductor is normally the person in charge of the cabin so to speak while the train operator is the driver
Just saying
Anyways i had been having near daily nightmares a few weeks ago of a train running at too fast a speed and a terrible train crash in Taiwan
So weird never had nightmares about trains
Likely a coincidence still