Female Fan Forced Her Way onto Railroad Crossings 為拍蒸汽火車 強闖平交道欄杆已違法

Numerous photographers took their chances to capture the beauty of the very rare steam locomotive in Hualien, with one of them crossing over the fence to take pictures, leaving everyone there in a cold sweat.

This is the north railroad crossing in Hualien Shoufeng Township Zhishoue Village. There were several railway fans crowded in front of the fence, taking shots of the fast-approaching whistling DT668 train with the steam locomotive. However, a female in a pink coat disregarded the dangers and crossed over the fence to take her pictures. Everyone behind her was in a cold sweat.

Railway Enthusiast: “This is a very dangerous act. Even for a railway photographer, it is absolutely prohibited. Moreover, in terms of railway safety, this would pose public dangers and likely cause traffic accidents.”

The Railway Police Bureau said that when the trains pass by, they create huge steam cyclones, to which if people stand too close, the cyclone would draw in objects nearby. The act of such a female has violated Article 57 of the Railway Act and may be subject to a fine of NT10,000 to NT50,000. The female's identity has been confirmed and she has been notified to report to the police.

Chung Cheng-hsuan, Hualien Center Director, Railway Police Bureau Hualien Branch: “We hereby appeal to the general public to keep clear of railroad crossings. Please engage in different activities within safe and permissible parameters. Photo-taking within railroad crossings is strictly prohibited.”

A senior railway fan emphasized that experiments abroad showed that when a train passes by with a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, it produces approximately eight kilograms of momentum; this is Bernoulli's Principle, thus there are yellow lines on train platforms to warn people not to underestimate the dangers caused by steam cyclones.

 

1月23日花蓮壽豐鄉志學村的北平交道，好幾位鐵道迷擠在欄杆前，對著鳴笛高速前進的DT668蒸汽火車頭拍照，當時竟有一位身穿粉紅色外套女子，不顧危險穿越欄杆攝影，讓後方民眾看了都為她捏一把冷汗。

一名鐵道迷表示:「這是一個很危險的動作，鐵道攝影來講的話，這個是絕對不允許的，而且這在鐵道的安全上面，也會造成一個危害，也容易造成行車事故。」

鐵路警局表示，火車經過時會產生巨大氣旋，如果太靠近，氣旋會將附近物體捲入，女子行為已違反《鐵路法》第57條規定，可裁罰1至5萬元，目前已掌握女子身份，通知她到案說明。

鐵路警察局花蓮分局花蓮所所長鍾承軒呼籲:「平交道範圍應保持淨空，民眾應於許可安全範圍內進行活動，嚴禁進入平交道內拍照。」

資深鐵道迷也強調，國外有實驗證明，火車以時速50公里前進時，會產生8公斤左右的推力，這是「柏努利原理」，所以月台前才會設置警告黃線，千萬別小看氣旋造成的危險。