Taiwan Railway apologizes after train blows past station

Taiwan Railway Corp. (TR) yesterday apologized after a northbound Puyuma Express train failed to stop at Jiaoxi Station in Yilan, forcing it to reverse back to Jiaoxi to let passengers on and off.

In a statement, Taiwan Railway said its employees at Jiaoxi Station sent out an emergency alert after the No. 219 Puyuma Express train from Hualien to Shulin passed the station without making its scheduled stop at 1:33 p.m.

After receiving the notification, a TR dispatcher ordered the train’s driver to reverse back to Jiaoxi Station to let passengers board or disembark, the statement said.

A thread user called bellebear2002 writes about a Puyuma express train backtracking to Jiaosi station in Yilan County as the driver forgot to make a stop there yesterday.

Screengrab from Thread

Taiwan Railway expressed its “sincere apologies” for the incident, which it said affected 64 travelers and caused a 21- minute delay to their trip.

On social media, one user’s post appeared to show the train “quickly reversing” after missing the stop in Jiaoxi. The author noted that many people on the train and platform started laughing when they realized what had happened.

“I thought we were all being sent back to Hualien,” the person joked in the post.

Taiwan Railway has not said what caused the train’s driver to miss the station and whether he or she will face any disciplinary action.