Puyuma Express

The Puyuma Express (Chinese: 普悠瑪號; pinyin: Pǔyōumǎ Hào) is a type of railway service on Taiwan Railway (TR) notable for using tilting trains. It began commercial service on 6 February 2013 during the Spring Festival.^[2][3]

TEMU2000 series "Puyuma Express"
Puyuma Express set 16 near Xizhi
In service	2013–present
Manufacturer	Nippon Sharyo
Family name	Tze-chiang limited express
Formation	4 cars per unit, 2 units per train
Operators	Taiwan Railway Corporation
Specifications
Train length	168.39 m (552 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Car length	22,095 mm (72 ft 5+7⁄8 in) (TED) 20.7 m (67 ft 10+15⁄16 in) (others)
Width	2.9 m (9 ft 6+3⁄16 in)
Height	4.17 m (13 ft 8+3⁄16 in) (TEP) 4.05 m (13 ft 3+7⁄16 in) (others)
Doors	4 per car, 2 more for drivers
Wheel diameter	860–780 mm (34–31 in) (new–worn)
Wheelbase	2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Maximum speed	150 km/h (93 mph) (design) 130 km/h (81 mph) (service)
Weight	316.92 t (311.91 long tons; 349.34 short tons)
Traction system	Toshiba COV098-A0 IGBT–C/I
Traction motors	16 × Toshiba SEA-431 220 kW (300 hp) asynchronous 3-phase AC
Power output	3.52 MW (4,720 hp)
Tractive effort	28,000 kgf (270 kN)
Acceleration	0.51 m/s2 (1.7 ft/s2) (0–50 km/h (0–31 mph)) 0.33 m/s2 (1.1 ft/s2) (50–130 km/h (31–81 mph))
Deceleration	1 m/s2 (3.3 ft/s2) (service) 1.2 m/s2 (3.9 ft/s2) (emergency)
Electric system(s)	25 kV 60 Hz AC (nominal) from overhead catenary
Current collector(s)	Pantograph
UIC classification	2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′+Bo′Bo′+2′2′
Bogies	ND-742
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Notes/references
Sourced from [1] except where noted

Puyuma Express was commissioned by the Taiwan Railways Administration in order to upgrade the Taiwanese rail system.^[4] As the mountains of Taiwan are a barrier to coast-to-coast transportation, motor travel is prone to congestion. The high speed and capacity of the service helps to alleviate this problem.^[5] Puyuma Express also increases passenger capacity on TR.^[6] The maximum operational speed of Puyuma Express is 150 km/h (93 mph), making it the fastest service of TR.^[7] Puyuma Express belongs to the Tze-chiang limited express class of TRA services in terms of fares; however, it is a reservation-only service similarly to the Taroko Express, with no standing passengers allowed.

Naming

The name "Puyuma" means "together" and "united" in the Puyuma language spoken by the Puyuma people of eastern Taiwan. It was chosen after a naming contest that was open to the public.^[8]

History

The trains were imported to Taiwan in 2012; since 2013, they have been running between Hualien and Taipei, on the existing narrow gauge tracks of the winding Yilan line, where they reduced traveling time between the two cities from 3 hours down to about 2 hours. On 28 February 2013, the TRA announced that Taitung would become a destination on the Puyuma Express with official operations beginning 16 July 2014,^[9] in concord with the completion of electrification of the Taitung Line.

Rolling stock

Puyuma Express services use TEMU2000 series tilting EMUs purpose-built by Nippon Sharyo. TRA purchased a total of 152 TEMU2000 cars for 19 trains.^[10] The first 16 cars arrived on 25 October 2012.^[11][12]

Fatal incidents

• On 21 October 2018, Puyuma Express set 4 derailed in Yilan County at about 16:50 local time, killing at least 18 people and injuring 187. The cause of this incident was an excessive speed, combined with an inactive automatic train stop.^[13]