2023 Taichung crane collapse

On 10 May 2023, a construction crane fell 30 floors from a construction site of Highwealth Construction Corp onto a moving Taichung Metro Green Line train south of Feng-le Park metro station, Taichung, Taiwan, killing 1 and injuring 10 passengers onboard.[1][2][3]

2023 Taichung crane collapse
Tower crane collapsed onto the elevated track of Green line, Taichung Metro
Details
Date10 May 2023 (2023-05-10)
12:27pm
LocationNear Feng-le Park metro station, Taichung
CountryTaiwan
LineGreen Line
OperatorTaichung Mass Rapid Transit System Co
Incident typeCollison between train and crane
CauseLine obstructed; under investigation
Statistics
Trains1 Kawasaki-TRSC Green Line driverless EMU
Deaths1
Injured10

The deceased passenger, legal scholar Lin Shu-ya, 52, was ejected out of the train carriage upon impact, resulting in her being crushed under the same train.[1][4]

One passenger onboard, a Canadian national, claimed that the driverless train was stationary when the crane fell onto the tracks and the train then proceeded to drive and collide straight onto the fallen crane.[5][6]

Investigation

It was revealed that the onboard train attendant followed company procedures to contact the control center about the crane obstructing the track.[7] However, the control center at Taichung Metro would require 20 seconds to activate the emergency brakes remotely, which was insufficient to prevent the collision.[7] The passenger emergency buttons onboard the train were not designed to immediately stop the train.[7]

The Taichung District Prosecutors Office questioned Taichung Metro staff involved in the incident and ten Highwealth Construction Corp personnel who were responsible for the operation of the construction crane.[7]

The operations control center detected a loss of power caused by the fallen crane, but power was automatically restored shortly after.[8] Half of the control center staff were on meal break at time of the incident.[8]

Timeline of incident

At a press conference, Taichung Metro revealed that based on CCTV footage of the train and the station before the fallen crane, the following events occurred:[7][9]

  • 12:26:50 - Trainset 03/04 entered the station
  • 12:27:04 - Construction crane fell onto the track, breaching the noise barrier
  • 12:27:14 - Station security reported incident to station supervisor
  • 12:27:22 - Trainset 03/04 doors closes
  • 12:27:26 - Staff onboard trainset 03/04 found track obstruction, contacted control center and attempted to open the manual driving control panel to stop the train
  • 12:27:30 - Trainset 03/04 departed the station
  • 12:27:45 - Trainset 03/04 impacted with the fallen construction crane on track
  • 12:27:52 - Trainset 03/04 came to a complete stop

Reactions
The acting chairman of Taichung Metro at the press conference explaining timeline of the collapse. He resigned shortly after this conference.[10]

Taichung Metro said they intended to seek at least TWD 0.2 billion (USD6.5 million) in compensation against Highwealth Construction Corp for damage and losses resulting from the collapse.[9]

Other metro operators in Taiwan began to review and secure ongoing construction sites that were situated near the tracks.[11]

Taipei Metro admitted that the existing procedures regarding driverless trains, such as the Wenhu Line, were inadequate to stop the train in time under a similar scenario as the track circuit would not be broken and detect a fallen crane, and staff opening the manual driving panel or informing the control centre to cut off power would have taken too long.[11] Taipei Metro promised to develop new procedures to deal with such scenarios, and in the meantime metro staff were authorized to deliberately obstruct the platform or train doors from closing in order to prevent the train from moving off.[11]

The acting chairman of Taichung Metro resigned after he was criticized for his performance post-collapse.[10]

Taichung Metro proposed changes to procedures to prevent collapse of a similar nature. Changes in protocol included introducing a new standardized hand signal for staff indicating emergency stop is necessary, encouraging staff and passengers to prevent the doors from closing by obstructing the doors to prevent a driverless train from departing after witnessing an incident, and relocating the key to a separate, more accessible holder to allow roving staff to more easily open the manual driving panel to access the emergency stop button.[12] Taichung Metro also promised updates to emergency devices at stations and obstruction detection devices that will allow a train to stop in time or prevent its departure in similar circumstances.[12]

See also

References
  1. Everington, Keoni (10 May 2023). "1 dead, 8 injured after crane crashes onto MRT train in central Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. Su Mu-chun; Chao Li-yen; Flor Wang; Matthew Mazzetta (10 May 2023). "1 dead, 8 injured after crane boom collapses on MRT in Taichung (update)". Focus News Taiwan. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  3. Chung, Jake (11 May 2023). "Train hits fallen crane boom in Taichung, killing one". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  4. Huang, Guo-fang; Chao, Li-yen; Liu, Shih-yi; Chang, Hsiung-feng; Chen, Chun-hua; Tsai, Chih-ming; Lo, James (11 May 2023). "Legal scholar who died in Taichung MRT accident remembered as spirited advocate". Central News Agency. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  5. Charlier, Phillip (10 May 2023). "Witness says metro train was stopped when crane fell onto tracks: train then drove into it". Taiwan English News. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  6. "Tragedy in Taiwan: crane boom collapses and crashes on subway". MSN. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  7. Su Mu-chun; Hau Hsueh-ching; Matthew Mazzetta (11 May 2023). "41 seconds from track intrusion to fatal Taichung MRT crash, video shows". Focus News Taiwan. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  8. "錯過16次告警？行控中心作業程序遭質疑 中捷回應了". TTV News. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  9. 莊儱宇 (11 May 2023). 吊臂砸車廂釀1死10傷 台中捷運公布影像還原關鍵「奪命1分鐘」將向廠商求償至少2億. Yahoo News Taiwan. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. Chao Li-yen; Lee Hsin-Yin (12 May 2023). "Acting Taichung MRT chairman tenders resignation". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  11. 劉彥宜 (11 May 2023). 「肉身擋門」能防中捷慘劇重演？北捷授權現場人員這樣做. China Times. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. "MRT company proposes changes after fatal crash". Taipei Times. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
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