By outdoor-nature-child.com On October 15, a report from Taiwan’s “United Daily News” highlighted a significant oversight involving Taiwan’s renowned “five-star moving restaurant” train, the Puyuma Express. On October 12, after one of the train services had departed, it was discovered that a business car was improperly detached. Alarmingly, this issue slipped through three separate inspection points before the train finally left, resulting in a 29-minute delay and affecting more than a hundred passengers. What’s more, officials from Taiwan’s transportation authority were unaware of the situation until they were questioned by legislators on October 14.
During a report to the Transportation Committee at Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, Deputy Minister of Transportation Wu Shengyuan and Taiwan Railway Administration Chairman Du Wei faced questioning from Kuomintang legislator Lu Mingzhe. Lu pointed out that while a one-day trip on the Puyuma Express starts at NT$15,800 and a two-day itinerary costs nearly NT$38,000, the train experienced an embarrassing incident of leaving a passenger car behind. He noted that despite being labeled “five-star,” the train’s performance was closer to “zero-star,” calling the oversight a serious lapse that should have been caught by the inspector, the driver, or the train conductor. Lu criticized the current inspection system for its failures.
Wu acknowledged under questioning that he had not been informed of the incident, stating that in the past, notices were usually sent to the transportation authority concerning issues like this. “Today is the first time I learned about it,” he said, asserting that in the future, Taiwan Railways must issue timely notifications. Du Wei added that they would review and improve the dual confirmation mechanisms moving forward.
According to Taiwan Railway sources, the train service designated as 6004, which was supposed to depart from Nangang Station at 8:25 AM on October 12, was supposed to include three passenger cars, one dining car, and one preparation car. However, during the formation process at Qidu Station, one passenger car was inadvertently left out. The error was only discovered when the train reached the Shulin switching yard. To save time, the Puyuma Express continued to Nangang Station while an additional train was dispatched to bring the missing car from Qidu. Despite these efforts, the train still experienced a 29-minute delay, ultimately affecting a hundred passengers. An investigation into the oversight is currently underway.