Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) on Thursday lost a civil case in which it was seeking NT$612 million (US$22.08 million) in compensation from Japanese company Sumitomo Corp. over a train accident in Taiwan that resulted in the deaths of 18 people three years ago.
The accident, which also left more than 200 passengers injured, occurred on Oct. 21, 2018, when a Puyuma Express train, carrying 366 passengers, derailed on a curve near Xinma Station in Yilan County.
TRA subsequently filed a NT$612 million lawsuit in the Taipei District Court against Sumitomo, the Japanese supplier of its Puyuma tilting train fleet, saying that the fatal accident had been caused by faulty design of the train.
One of the flaws was the train's air compressor system, which Sumitomo failed to fix, even after it was notified of the problem, TRA said.
In addition, Sumitomo failed to put the TRA's remote monitoring system online, which made it impossible to detect that the train's Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system had been deactivated by the driver before the accident, TRA said.
The Japanese firm, however, argued in court that the accident had occurred because the train was speeding, traveling at 141 kilometers an hour on a railway section that had a speed limit of 75 kph.
Regarding the failure of the air compressor system, Sumitomo said that was caused not by any design flaws but rather by TRA's failure to carry out routine maintenance.
On Thursday, the Taipei court said an investigation of the accident had found that the faulty air compressor pump was an indirect cause of the accident.
TRA, however, was unable to provide evidence to support its claim that the problem was due to design flaws, the court said in its verdict, ruling that the accident had occurred as a result of human error and poorly maintained equipment.
Sumitomo, therefore, was not liable for the payment of any compensation, the court ruled in the case, which can still be appealed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel