Taiwan Railway's No. 123 Ziqiang train at Changhua Station smoked from the front, and passengers were evacuated urgently

Taiwan Railway's Ziqiang No. 123 train had smoke coming from the front, and the entire train was evacuated. Passengers took photos for the PO website. (provided by the public)

A thrilling train failure occurred at Changhua Station of the Taiwan Railways today (26th) afternoon! After the 123rd Taiwan Railway's Ziqiang train entered Changhua Station, station staff and drivers suddenly discovered abnormally thick smoke coming from under the locomotive. To ensure the safety of all passengers on the train, Taiwan Railway immediately announced an emergency clearance of the train and quickly dispatched a backup vehicle group to pick up all passengers. Fortunately, no casualties were caused. The cause of the smoke was clarified by Taiwan Railway.

When the 123rd Ziqiang train arrived at Changhua Station on time at around 2 o'clock this afternoon, abnormal smoke suddenly floated out of the chassis, which briefly aroused the attention of passengers waiting to transfer. Taiwan Railway Corporation later confirmed that abnormal smoke was indeed found under the locomotive after the train arrived at the station. On-site personnel immediately activated the emergency response mechanism, guided passengers on the train to get off, and arranged a backup train group to take over the subsequent driving tasks. The replacement train successfully departed from Changhua Station at 3:48 p.m., minimizing the impact on passengers' itineraries. However, some tourists were dissatisfied and posted the video online.

In response to this sudden train smoke incident, Taiwan Railway Corporation expressed its apology in the evening and stated that it has asked the rolling stock maintenance section to set up a task force to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the locomotive. It is necessary to find out the cause of the smoke and strengthen maintenance and improvement to avoid a similar situation from happening again.

In addition, the Taiwan Railways also announced relevant refund and compensation measures. The affected passengers for 123 trips can use their tickets to take 125 Ziqiang or shuttle trains. If the final arrival time at the destination is more than 45 minutes later than the original scheduled time for the 123rd trip, the passenger can apply for a full refund; if the change to the 125th trip results in no seats and the delay is less than 45 minutes, the difference in fare between the Ziqiang train and the shuttle bus can be refunded to protect the rights of the passengers.