On 2 April 2021, at 09:28 NST (01:28 UTC), a Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derailed at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least two others, making it the deadliest railway accident in Taiwan in terms of confirmed deaths. The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board titled this rail accident of "TRA's Train No. 408 at Qingshui Tunnel" (Chinese: 0402臺鐵第408次車清水隧道重大鐵道事故).
At the time of the derailment, the train was carrying 494 passengers. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with a construction truck that had fallen down a slope onto the tracks north of Hualien City; the train came to rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. The incident was primarily due to human factors and was preventable, as an investigation from The New York Times revealed that it was "systemic failures at a government agency" including "a culture of complacency and weak oversight", that had made the disaster possible.
The accident occurred on the first day of a four-day Qingming Festival holiday, which is typically a period of high traffic with people visiting the graves of deceased family members. Many passengers had been standing at the time of the accident.
The Taroko Express is operated using eight-car, 376-seat trains. It is part of the Tze-chiang limited express service, the highest-class service in the TRA system. Since the Taroko Express is a tilting train with a maximum operating speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), the TRA originally did not sell standing tickets for these trains due to safety concerns. However, in order to increase the supply of available tickets during periods of high demand, the TRA began selling up to 120 standing tickets for each trainset on 2 May 2019, after it said it had performed detailed safety tests.
The route involved runs along the mountainous east coast of Taiwan, passing by the Taroko National Park and the Taroko Gorge, the namesake of the express and a popular destination for the long weekend. The Qingshui Tunnel is a pair of single-tracked tunnels that cut through Qingshui Cliff. In April 2019, the TRA began construction to improve the slope stability near the north end of the tunnel by constructing a rock shed over the western track. At the time of the accident, construction was nearly complete.
On 2 April 2021, a southbound Taroko Express train numbered 408 left Shulin in New Taipei at 07:16 NST heading for Taitung. The train was scheduled to arrive at Hualien at 09:39 NST.
At 09:28 NST (01:28 UTC), the train derailed as it was entering Qingshui Tunnel, between Heren and Chongde. It was carrying 494 passengers and 4 staff members in eight carriages, and was travelling on the eastern track. According to media reports, a flatbed truck used in the slope stabilization project slid about 20 metres (66 ft) down the side of a hill, fell onto the tracks, and was struck by the oncoming train, which was travelling at 125 kilometres per hour (78 mph) when the driver spotted the obstruction. A brake application had only reduced the speed to 121 kilometres per hour (75 mph) at the time of the collision. The front of the train derailed to the left, and struck the portal as it entered the tunnel and left side of the front car was sheared off. At the time, no construction was actively being carried out, in observance of the holiday. The driver of the truck was not in the vehicle during the derailment.
Car number 8, at the front of the train, collided with the truck shortly before entering the tunnel, partially derailing the train. The train then entered the tunnel, with the front of the train also crashing into the tunnel's interior walls as the carriages piled up. Car Nos. 7 and 8 were heavily damaged, and accounted for most of the fatalities. Car Nos. 8 through 3, the front six carriages, were trapped in the tunnel when the train came to a halt, with Car No. 3 having only partially entered the tunnel.
Forty-nine people were confirmed killed in the accident, including 47 passengers, the train driver and the assistant train driver, while another 202 were injured, several in critical condition. The majority of the deceased were in carriages 7 and 8. Seventy-two people were temporarily trapped in the wreckage of the train.
Classes from an elementary school and a university were among the passengers. Four students died: a 6-year-old kindergarten girl and three university students; 32 others from school and university were injured, including a teacher.
More than 150 emergency personnel, including search and rescue workers and members of the military, were dispatched to the derailment site. Over 80 people were evacuated from the train's rear four carriages, while the remaining four carriages were described as "deformed" and harder to access.
The rear two carriages had been removed from the tracks by the next morning, while the removal of the third occurred later that night. After the dashcam of the truck involved and one of its two memory cards were found, work was halted temporarily to search for the second memory card. The fourth carriage was eventually removed from the tunnel late in the afternoon.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung and Minister of Interior Hsu Kuo-yung coordinated rescue efforts along with other ministries and local government officials. Minister Lin stated that he would take full political responsibility for the crash. He announced his resignation to the Government on 4 April, and will leave once the rescue work ends.
The Executive Yuan ordered the lowering of national flags to half-mast at all public schools and government agencies for three days beginning on 3 April in honor of those who died.
A TRA official stated that the route should be repaired within a week, and that in the meantime trains would run on a parallel track, with delays of about 15 to 20 minutes. Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai later announced that the resumption of services on the damaged track had been postponed to 20 April as questions were raised about whether the crash had any impact to the safety of the area. Wang noted that an engineering consultant firm and an engineering association had been asked to conduct inspections, with the reopening further postponed if issues were raised.
A restriction on the number of standing tickets sold is being considered due to the large number of casualties. In addition, Deputy Minister Wang stated that the TRA would need to review its standard operating procedure with regard to selecting contractors and overseeing work being done at construction sites.
Investigation and legal actions
The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) conducted an investigation. The driver of the construction truck, Lee Yi-hsiang (Chinese: 李義祥; pinyin: Lǐ Yìxiáng; aged 45), was taken into police custody and being investigated to ascertain the cause of the disaster. Lee was released on bail on 4 April 2021, before a court, on appeal, found that he might be a flight risk, and could collude with others and may destroy incriminating evidence on 5 April 2021. He is suspected of parking the vehicle without properly engaging the parking brake, causing the truck to roll down the slope and collide with the train. Prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for the manager of the construction site, who may be accused of causing death due to negligence and of forging documents.