EMU500 series

Taiwan Railway EMU500 series
An EMU500 atXikein April 2016
Interior of an EMU500 train
In service	1995–present
Manufacturer	Daewoo,Siemens
Constructed	1995–1997
Number built	344
Number in service	340 (as of 2015)
Specifications
Train length	20,330 mm (66 ft 8 in)
Width	2,853 mm (9 ft 4.3 in)
Height	4,219 mm (13 ft 10.1 in)
Entry	Low floor
Doors	3 per side per car
Power output	2,000 kW (2,700 hp)
Tractive effort	210 kN

TheEMU500 seriesis a series ofelectric multiple unitpassenger trains operated byTaiwan Railways Administration(TRA). The trains are built aslocal trainsand are used throughout the country's rail network.

History

In the 1990s, the TRA was facing an aging fleet of local trains, all of which did not featureair conditioning.Therefore, in 1993, the company entered a contract with South Korean manufacturerDaewooto build 344 cars, which would be arranged all into 86 trainsets. The first of these trains arrived in the summer of 1995, and the first passenger service began in 11 October of the same year.

Features

The train is built on a system developed bySiemens,which featuresthree-phaseinduction motorsand a16-bitcontrol system. Trains are usually operated in four-car units in the following order: a motorized car with thecab(EMC), an unmotorized car with apantograph(EP), an unmotorized car (ET), and a motorized car (EM). Thebraking systemis supplied byKnorr-Bremse.

The exterior of the train is made ofstainless steel,the first in Taiwan to use the material. Its appearance is based on the design of theDR3000 series.Each car features three doors on each side, an improvement from theEMU400 series' two doors. Thedestination signshave black text over a white background, which is inverted from the EMU400 series; this was updated to anLED displayin 2004–2005.

Similar to other local trains, seats run parallel to the walls of the train. The cars originally had one step at each door; this was removed beginning in 2017 by raising platforms and remodeling the interior to turn the trains into alow floorlayout for accessibility.With this change, the doorframe was raised slightly, and an LED display was installed above the doors.As of August 2019, 246 out of 334 cars are low floor.

Incidents

On 15 June 2017, a southbound EMU500 series train number 2719 was changing tracks south ofDali stationwhen it was hit by a northboundE400 seriesthat was undergoing testing. The E400 hit the second car of the four car unit, killing 5 and injuring 17. The TRA determined that the crash was caused by a faultyATPsystem in the E400, as well as speeding by the train driver causing him to misread the signs.

On 8 July 2016, a bomb was detonated within a northbound EMU550 train number 1258 nearSongshan station,injuring 25 people.The perpetrator, who was also injured, was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

On 27 April 2020, A EMU500 series train collied with another EMU500 series train nearHualien station,injuring 7 TRA employees.