Truck Nearly Falls on Train Track 宜蘭頭城聯結車翻落邊坡 險些波及鐵軌

A car accident happened in Yilan's Toucheng on Provincial Highway 2 on Sept. 15. A freight truck car suspected of having a flat tire collided with the guardrail and fell down the slope, almost falling on the train track. 

The front of the truck that fell down the slope was almost completely destroyed, and the roadside fence and trees were all smashed into pieces. What is even scarier is that the railway track is only 10 meters away. Taiwan Railway urgently notified all train drivers passing the site to drive slowly. The truck driver was able to get out of the wrecked truck by himself. He explained to the police his tires blew out, causing the accident.

Hsu Min-chieh, Director, Yilan Section, Taiwan Railway: “We've preventively closed down the part of the track adjacent to the accident. The side of the track that's open is on the side of the sea. Trains passing that section are all traveling slowly.”

This accident is also reminiscent of the Hualien train derailment incident that occurred on Apr. 2, 2021. Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai inspected the track's automated detection system in Hualien on the 14th. It has been installed in 260 level crossings across the country, and Hualien accounts for 74 of them.

Chou Tsu-te, Director, Electrical Engineering Dept., Taiwan Railway: “When there are objects more than 30-centimeter bigger inside the level crossing, the system will detect them and will broadcast them live. And then the train guard radios will directly notify the train.”

The track's early warning system when rocks or other objects fall on the track is still under construction.

Wang Kwo-tsai, Minister, MOTC: “There are currently 28 sites that have the system and we are gradually completing the rest. The system mainly uses AI and image recognition. If a rock is detected, the system will immediately notify the train driver or the train station.”

The truck driver involved in the accident in Yilan had a BAC value of zero. There were no casualties from the accident.

翻落邊坡的聯結車車頭幾乎全毀，路旁柵欄與路樹全都撞成一團，更驚險的是，距離下方鐵道只有10公尺，台鐵緊急通知所有行經火車駕駛慢行，聯結車駕駛則是自行脫困，他向警方表示是爆胎才會失控翻落。

台鐵宜蘭運務段長許民杰指出：「鄰近鐵軌的那部分路線，我們已經先預防性就先封鎖，現在通行的是靠海側的那一邊路線，通過那個路段的時候都是用慢行的方式。」

這起意外事件也讓人想起4月2日太魯閣號事件，交通部長王國材14日才在花蓮視察平交道自動偵測系統，目前已在全國260個平交道裝設，花蓮就佔74個。

台鐵電務處長周祖德表示：「平交道範圍裡面，有大概超過30公分以上的障礙物的時候，它就會偵測得到，現場會廣播，然後有列車防護的無線電，直接就通知到列車上面。」

但包括像落石，或是其他異物入侵鐵軌的時候，周遭預警系統目前還在建置。

交通部長王國材指出：「目前有總共28處，逐漸也在完成，主要是透過AI跟影像辨識，如果有落石的時候偵測到，它馬上來通知司機員或是兩邊的站。」

至於宜蘭頭城連結車意外，台鐵表示已聯繫大型吊車前往吊掛，預估下午3時前可處理完成，聯結車駕駛酒測值則是為0，整起事件並無人員傷亡。