A train of eight coaches carrying over 230 tourists left Chiayi in southwestern Taiwan at 9 a.m. for the Alishan forest park.

But for unknown reasons, the fourth coach of the mountain train derailed near the Jialipin Station at 11:50 a.m.

Passengers on the sightseeing trip were jolted by the accident but no one was hurt.

Officials of the forest administration praised Fan Chung-shan, the driver of the train, for averting a possible disaster.

They noted that Fan made a wise and urgent decision to apply the brakes to slow the train down after finding the fourth coach had been shaking irregularly.

It turned out that the wheel axles of the No. 4 coach had become disengaged from the track.

Most passengers aboard the train said they were not even aware of the incident because there were no abrupt changes in speed or movements of the coaches.

New trains were assigned to take the passengers to continue their journey.

It took around one hour to clear the tracks and bring the train services back to normal.

The train’s busiest day occurred yesterday when people from all around the island went to Alishan to appreciate the glamorous cherry blossoms.

The forest administration launched the month-long cherry blossom season on March 15, luring a growing number of tourists over the weekends.

Officials said they had started a thorough inspection to find the cause for the derailment.

But they emphasized that all the mountain trains are maintained and operating well within safety standards.

“For the braking system alone, there are four devices to bring the train to a halt once the drivers feel anything unusual,” they added.

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