CHAPTER IV Supervision
Article 28
For the construction of local or private railways, prior to pre-opening, the following documents may be prepared and presented to the MOTC for ratification, and filed by the Executive Yuan:
(1) Application form
(2) Justification of construction
(3) Drawings of reserved route and its descriptions
(4) Concise evaluation tables of construction, improvement and expansion of fixed assets
(5) Evaluation tables of deficit and profit
(6) Planning of total capital and funding collection
Article 29
For the construction of local or private railways ratified and filed, prior to construction, the following documents shall be prepared and presented to the MOTC for registration and licensing within the set deadline. In case of failure to register by the deadline, the MOTC shall discontinue its pre-opening and report to the Executive Yuan for filing:
(1)The layout, cross-section drawings, and their descriptions, after actual route surveys
(2) Descriptions and drawings of respective engineering and locomotives trains
(3) Staged implementation planning of the entire engineering project
(4) Total capital, collected funds, and deadlines for collecting remaining funds
(5) Administrative organization and system; private enterprises shall attach company constitutions, stock records, and list of board members, supervisors and managers
Article 30
For the construction of special railways, the following documents shall be prepared and presented to the MOTC for ratification, registration, and licensing, and reported to the Executive Yuan for filing:
(1) Application form
(2) Justification of construction and consent from corresponding business authorities
(3) Drawings and descriptions of route with actual surveys
(4) Evaluation tables of construction, improvement, and expansion of fixed assets
(5) Total capital for the usage of this railway and its certificates
Article 31
Where the construction of local, private, and special railways concerns facilities of roadways, bridges, rivers, and trenches, relevant authorities shall be notified in advance for coordination or filing purposes.
Article 32
National, local, and private railway institutions shall report to the Railway Bureau in accordance with the following regulations:
(1) Report every month regarding engineering progress and the economic situation during the pre-opening or construction period.
(2) Report every three months on the operation status during the operation period.
(3) Report every year on the entire railway status, business profit and deficit, transportation situation, and improvement plans within six months after the end of the operational year.
The progressive status and economic situation of special railways shall be reported every month during the construction period.
Article 33
The management of private railways is restricted to limited liability companies.
Article 34
In case local and private railway institutions need to employ foreign personnel, ratification by the MOTC must be received in advance.
Article 34-1
Without passing a qualifying examination and obtaining a license from the Railway Bureau, a railway train operator shall not drive a train. The railway institutions shall not assign such drivers, either.
The aforementioned regulations on the qualifying examination, the issuance and management of licenses, and other matters of train drivers/operators in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
The handling of the qualifying examination in Paragraph 1 may be entrusted to other agencies (institutions) or organizations; The guidelines for the eligibility, conditions, responsibilities, supervision, and other matters of such entrusted shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
Article 35
Transportation prices for local and private railways shall be ratified by the MOTC. Any increase or reduction of prices shall be conducted by the same procedures.
Article 36
The Railway Bureau may order necessary transportation equipment used by local, private, and special railways to be improved within a prescribed time limit when it deems it inappropriate.
Article 37
For the necessities of public welfare, the MOTC may notify local and private railways to conduct joint operations with other railways, roadways, water, or air transportation. In case of emergency needs, the MOTC shall assign an appropriate railway institution to allocate trains for relieving transportation.
Article 38
Local and private railway institutions may conduct the following affiliated businesses:
(1) Affiliated businesses according to Paragraph 1 of Article 21.
(2) Other businesses ratified by the MOTC.
Unless ratified by the MOTC, special railway institutions shall not manage passengers and freight transportation, as well as other affiliated businesses, other than their main business.
The rules of applied procedures, ratified conditions, operation, accounting, supervision and other relevant matters of affiliated businesses of local and private railway institutions, special railway institutions shall be provided by the MOTC.
Article 39
Local, private, and special railways shall be ratified by the MOTC prior to modifying organization, increasing or decreasing capital, renting operation, mortgaging property, transferring administration, and announcing the discontinuance or termination of business.
The aforementioned ratified mortgage property is restricted to buildings, trains and machinery.
Article 40
In the event of serious operational accidents or delay, local, private, and special railway institutions shall immediately notify the Railway Bureau and report the progress thereof for inspections whenever necessary; general railway operational accidents and abnormal events shall also be reported on a monthly basis.
The guidelines for the definition of serious railway operational accidents, general railway operational accidents, serious delay and abnormal events, as well as that of notification content, notification methods, and other relevant matters in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
The Railway Bureau may request that person in charge or relevant supervisors of the railway institutions give an explanation on the reported content submitted by the railway institution pursuant to the provisions of Article 40, Paragraph 1.
Railway institutions shall prescribe contingency plans for railway operational accidents and abnormal events, of which the contents shall include on-site handling, notification operations, passenger information announcements, passenger evacuation or transfer, personnel rescue, operational dispatch, manpower dispatch for emergency repair and rescue, removal of dangerous articles, railway clearance and safety, and equipment preparation.
Railway institutions shall implement periodic and non-periodic exercises, conduct reviews, and make improvements based on the contingency plan.
The Railway Bureau may inspect the content of the contingency plan drawn up by the railway institutions and the circumstances of periodic and non-periodic exercises. The Railway Bureau shall order improvements to be made within a deadline if unsatisfactory implementation is found.
When the railway institution handles the notification in Paragraph 1 hereof, it shall also simultaneously notify the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board in accordance with the Transportation Occurrences Investigation Act.
Article 41
The Railway Bureau shall, periodically and non-periodically, assign personnel to inspect the construction, materials, operations, transportation, finance, accounting, actual property status, management of subordinate businesses of local, private, and special railways. When necessary, it may order the local, private, and special railways to submit relevant documents and account books. If unsatisfactory implementation or deficiencies are found, the Railway Bureau shall order improvements to be made within a limited time, and if necessary, part or all of its operations shall be suspended.
The inspections as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be evaded, obstructed, or refused by local, private, and special railway institutions.
The inspection affairs as referred to in Paragraph 1 may be entrusted to other agencies (institutions) and organizations; the regulations on the qualifications, conditions, responsibilities, supervision, and other matters of such entrusted shall be prescribed by the competent authority.
Article 42
Local and private railway institutions, with the exception of retrieving apportioned costs for entire railway construction and equipment depreciation, shall not allot profits. In case annual profits exceed 25% of actual capital totals, the whole of the surplus shall be used for the expansion or improvement of equipment. In the case of private railway institutions being incentive by the Government’s announcement of requisition of private participation in railway construction, operation on relevant acts of incentive to private investment, the surplus allocations after apportionment to retrieval of entire railway construction and equipment depreciation will not be subjected to the constraint of 25% annual profits.
Article 43
Accounting system of national, local and private railways shall be drafted following relevant acts, specifications of accounting systems and generally accepted accounting principles, and reported to the MOTC to ratify.
Article 44
Special railways ratified to manage passenger and freight transportation shall comply with regulations of Paragraph 1 of Article 32, Article 34, Article 37, and Article 42.
Article 44-1
Supervision of national railways, shall comply with regulations of Article 34-1, Article 36, Article 37, Article 40 and Article 41.
Article 45
Registration, construction, routing, organization modification, operation termination and operation ratification abolition, operation, passengers and freight transportation business, supervision and other relevant matters of local, private, and special railways shall be provided by the MOTC.