TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Families of the victims of the 2018 Yilan train derailment criticized Taiwan Railway (台鐵) on Monday (Oct. 21) for ignoring systemic issues, simplifying the incident as mere human error. The tragedy, which occurred at Xinma Station (新馬站) in Yilan County and resulted in 18 deaths and over 200 injuries, marks its sixth anniversary.
Taiwan Railway sought compensation from the train driver, Yu Chen-chung (尤振仲), and a second trial ordered him to pay more than NT$2.93 million. Tung Hsiao-ling (董小羚), a family member of a victim, said the incident's root causes were reduced to employee mistakes and neglect of structural defects such as inadequate train maintenance and incomplete testing mechanisms.
Fan Ming-chun (范銘浚), another victim's family member, argued that the train's data recorder content contradicted the investigation report, stating that accusing Yu of speeding was impossible. Ken Chang (張凱鈞), chairman of the Civilized Human Rights Association (CHRA, 文明人權服務協會), criticized Taiwan Railway for its lack of profound reflection on accident management issues, continuing to lay blame solely on Yu Chen-chung.