The Suggested Reformation of Taiwan Railway Operation:
In the case of The North Link Line Derail of “Taroko”
Railway maintenance
Overheated Railway
To avoid the danger of derail, railway precaution is prepared for both unexpected and expected events. The expected danger like over-heated rails and rust rails. It takes great time, and a lot works to maintain the railway. On the base of the reformation report of TRA, the rail temperature monitoring system is installed next to the railway rails every 40 kilometers.
The temperature of the rails is monitored electronically, and the records are sent back to the computer screens in the works sub-station in seconds. The whole system is monitored by the staff on duty 24 hours a day in the sub-station.
Escalation
In addition to building a rail temperature monitoring system, the Railway Bureau has also established standard operating procedures for the treatment of high-temperature rails.
Apart from monitoring by special personnel, when the rail temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius, the notification section, each branch station, and the on-line personnel will be notified. When the temperature is 55 to 60 degrees, send locomotives to check the roads, cooling equipment and personnel are on standby; if the temperature is above 60 degrees, additional locomotives will be added to check the poor areas to implement cooling operations, and the trains will be notified to slow down in necessary areas.
Institution And Prediction
The reformation of the unexpected events operation is complicated and countless, because it is related to the institution of construction supervising and equipment updating. Clearance in the locked section of railway traffic to ensure zero intrusion is a basic requirement for transportation safety. The construction access road at the accident-prone section is close to the top of the track, and there is a risk of foreign matter intruding into the track.
Source: 蔡雯如(2022)
Source: 周志龍(2021)
However, after more than 20 years of use, Taiwan Railways has never identified this risk. Of course, it has never installed fences, nor has it set up monitoring for side slope slipping or foreign matter intrusion into the track. TR did not follow the risk management standards of the high-speed rail and invested in safety warning facilities first.
Derail Rate Contrast of Different Countries
Injured and Deaths Rate of Accidents
Source: Safety Transportation Association of Taiwan Railway (2019)
The graph shows that the percentage of derail accidents of Taiwan is higher than other countries from 2012 to 2019. The objective factors are total length of railways, numbers of trains and bend rails etc. The TRA has increased several kinds of monitoring devices and systems from 2020, and practices them in necessary places to reduce the numbers of derail accidents.
Source: Safety Transportation Association of Taiwan Railway (2019)
The graph shows the uncertainty in Taiwan railway accidents. There is no serious derail accident in 2014 to 2016, the rate is relatively low to other years. There is a serious derail accident in 2018, though, the numbers amount of 2018 is less than numbers of 2017, the rate of 2018 is higher than 2017. Every derail accident causes a lot of injuries and deaths so that it becomes the key point discussed in the reformation of TRA.
The potential risk comes from TRA's risk management attitude. Railway operations rely on old experience, and those who have never had an accident are regarded as risk-free, and modern risk management principles are seriously ignored. TR is surrounded by problems of organizational structure, the top management get wrong information and made vulgar and superficial decisions. The motivation of constructing monitoring system and early warning life-saving system were both based on accidents and blood and tears. The tragedy of derail accidents is just warning to urge TRA to take action.
No wander people say, “Wrong strategies are worse than corruption.”.