Woman survives level crossing accident with minor injuries: TRA admits equipment fault

Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) issued a press release this morning, November 24, in which it apologized for an accident that occurred on a level crossing in Taichung City on Friday night, citing faulty equipment as a causal factor.

At 9:35pm, November 22, a woman named Lin, 45, was driving her silver sedan across a level crossing between Xinwuri and Cheng-gong stations when a limited-express train slammed into the vehicle.

While the car was almost completely destroyed, Ms Lin suffered no obvious trauma injuries, but was taken to the hospital suffering from back pain.

After the accident, railway traffic in both directions was stopped for more than two hours, affecting 21 trains and 5,900 passengers.

An investigation found that the driver had stopped at the level crossing and waited for some time. Then the lights stopped flashing, the warning bells went silent, the boom gates went up, and the driver proceeded to cross the tracks.

A TRA inspection of the crossing safety equipment found that there was a fault caused by damaged cable insulation. TRA “deeply apologized” and promised to cover medical expenses and damages incurred by the incident.

TRA said that equipment on all level crossings will be inspected in the wake of the incident.

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