An axle counter detects the passage of a train between points on a railroad track. It sends information to a centralized system that assesses the presence of rolling stock on sections of track. It is needed for track vacancy detection and to switch warning equipment at level crossings on and off, and helps ensure that collisions are avoided. Faults in the system can lead to crashes, and tragedy.

If the system fails, an alternative process might be used, involving person-to-person communication, but this is prone to human error, and even when working smoothly will lead to delays in the rail service.

There is never a good time for this kind of failure, but a long weekend such as the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday last weekend, when Taiwanese moved en masse around the country, was a recipe for chaos.

According to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), a malfunction in the axle counter system on a section of track between Huatan and Yuanlin stations in Changhua County was behind delays lasting 70 hours from early Thursday last week to Sunday morning. In all, the delays affected more than 75,000 passengers and 396 trains along the Western Trunk Line, and caused confusion on the roads around the affected stations.

The TRA ought to know, the axle counter system was not the cause of the problem, it was just a symptom of wider, systemic failings.

Once the immediate problem was identified, engineers set about replacing components and parts, but still the problem persisted.

TRA engineers were at a loss as to what was causing the malfunction. Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Hu Hsiang-lin (胡湘麟) and TRA Director-General Du Wei (杜微) inspected the problem at the site. Specialists from Siemens, the company that manufactured the equipment, and independent experts were called to the site and consulted with retired TRA engineers.

This raises questions about why the TRA needed to look outside of its organization for answers and why technical expertise had not been passed on.

It took days to get the system running properly again, on the final day of the long weekend, and even then the TRA acknowledged that the problem had not been completely fixed, and that the repairs were only temporary: The axle counters’ printed circuit boards might still require replacement following inspections by Siemens engineers.

Faulty or old components were not the root cause of the problem, nor was the lack of expertise. The real reason for the delays was the TRA’s corporate culture, and the need for meaningful reform that the public has been crying out for and deserves.

The malfunction caused massive disruption and inconvenience, but the issue goes beyond convenience. People must not forget two recent, major TRA catastrophes that were caused either by malfunction or shoddy observance of safety regulations. In 2018, a TRA Puyuma service overturned, resulting in 18 deaths; on April 2 last year, a Taroko Express crashed inside the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien County, after hitting a crane truck that had slid from a service road onto the tracks. That crash resulted in 49 deaths and 213 injuries.

The latest mishap is just another reason for Taiwanese to doubt the TRA’s competence and ability to ensure their safety. The government has promised reform, but critics have pointed to the slow progress of these reforms and are not optimistic that they would have the desired effect. If another fatal accident occurs before meaningful reforms are carried out, heads are going to roll.

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