China News Service, October 24. According to Taiwan's "United Daily News", Taiwan Railway's Puyuma train No. 6432 derailed and overturned when passing through Yilan County Su'ao Xinma Station on the afternoon of the 21st, killing 18 people. 190 people were injured. Affected by this, tourism in Hualien, Taitung has declined. Statistics indicate that 2,000 tickets for the Puyuma Sightseeing Train have been refunded, and the check-out rate of B&B hotels in Hualien County has reached 20%.
Tang Yushu, chairman of the Hualien County Tourist Hotel Business Association, said that tourists from northern and western Taiwan no longer dare to travel to Hualien, let alone take the Puyuma train! At the end of 2018, there was originally a group of visiting groups and study groups from outside Taiwan. Now that all the itineraries have been postponed to 2019, the shadow of Puyuma's overturn may be deeply rooted in the hearts of tourists.
Tang Yushu said that since the accident, the check-out rate of major hotels and B&Bs in Hualien County has reached 20%. It can be said that Hualien tourism has been "hit hard." However, Tang Yushu still thanked the Taiwan Railways staff for completing the emergency repairs in the shortest possible time, and hoped that the cause of the Puyuma train overturning would be discovered as soon as possible to enhance passenger confidence.
The scene of the train derailment and overturning accident taken on October 21.
Chen Yifeng, chairman of the Hualien County Hotel Business Association, leased the Puyuma sightseeing train from the Taiwan Railways for one year. It started operation in 2017 and is the latest train. He revealed that the day after the train overturned, more than 700 passengers canceled their tickets through travel agencies and B&Bs. So far, 2,000 tickets have been cancelled, and nearly 1,000 B&Bs have been cancelled.
Chen Yifeng said that in the past, passengers had high expectations for trains and believed that they were much safer than roads. Now, the phenomenon of "no confidence in Puyuma trains" may continue until the end of the year.
Chen Yifeng called on all means of transportation to be dangerous and hoped that Hualien tourism would pick up soon.
