On the morning of August 31, a light rail train in Kaohsiung in Taiwan was derailed. Fortunately, no one was injured. According to preliminary information, it is suspected that the track turf is not smooth enough to be lifted and caught under the vehicle, and the driver did not brake in time.
According to Taiwan’s "Central News Agency", at about 8:40 this morning, before the Kaohsiung Light Rail train headed for C36 Kaixuan Ersheng Station, there was a sudden turf caught under the car. The driver braked, but the front of the car was still partially derailed and off track. Fortunately, there were only 2 passengers in the car at the time of the incident, and no one was injured.
The Kaohsiung Metro Corporation stated that immediately after the train derailed, it immediately dispatched personnel to the site to make emergency repairs and change the operation mode. According to preliminary understanding, the system and train design are safe and sound. Therefore, it was judged that when the turf was replanted in the morning, the turf protruding occurred, which caused the turf to be lifted and rolled into the vehicle bottom, and the driver did not brake in time, and the front of the vehicle fell off the track.
It is understood that the Kaohsiung light rail track is mostly covered with turf. In principle, the height of the turf is within 2 cm above the track surface, and under special circumstances it can be within 5 cm. At the same time, this is also the first derailment accident caused by turf.
At 11:45 a.m., a large crane was used to lift the front of the car and clear the turf and sand under the car. The rerailing operation was completed at 12:30 noon. After preliminary inspection, the train was confirmed to be able to move after being hauled by the rescue engineering vehicle. It was moved back to the machine factory for overhaul at 1:30 pm. Currently, Taiwan’s "Transportation Safety Investigation Committee" has arrived at the scene for investigation.