TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Railways Administration reported two train collision incidents Thursday.
Both were caused by regulation violations, improper shunting operations, and misjudgments, damaging the control cars. No injuries were reported, per CNA.
Shunting in railway operations involves organizing rail cars into complete trains or breaking down trains into individual cars. This process can also be called switching, according to Isarsoft.
The first incident occurred at 10 a.m. at Chaozhou depot in Pingtung. Personnel misjudged the stopping position while shunting the ED3410 train onto a maintenance track, resulting in a collision with a bumper stop and damaging the train's nose cone.
The second incident happened at 2:21 p.m. at Hualien Station, where an ED9011 locomotive collided with a buffer stop on a washing track. It caused front-end damage and a derailment of the train's second axle.
TRA said initial investigations revealed both incidents stemmed from non-compliance with shunting procedures and have been reported to the transportation ministry and other relevant authorities. The company plans to strengthen supervision and management by reviewing operation records, retraining staff, and enforcing strict penalties for shunting personnel and their supervisors.