To compensate the public for chaotic ticket sales over the last three days, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC,
The nation's high-speed railway is due to start test runs today, but THSRC, operator of the new rail system, has experienced frequent malfunctions with the booking system resulting in a barrage of complaints from people forced to line up for tickets at stations.
THSRC offered a 50 percent discount on fares for the trial runs, which last from today to next Sunday. The discount will be extended till Jan. 19, THSRC spokesman Arthur Chiang (
Tickets for the first five days of test runs are available today.
The glitches led to repeated bookings, which occurred for eight trains and will affect 831 passengers, Chiang said.
To solve the problem, THSRC will provide additional trains to transport the passengers, as well as providing one free ticket to each of the affected passengers, Chiang said.
To improve the booking system, both at ticket counters and vending machines, Chiang said the company would undertake discussions with the system provider to revise the software to facilitate a more efficient booking procedure.
As many passengers had complained about the requirement to insert pin codes when they purchased tickets with credit cards from vending machines, Chiang said the THSRC was in talks with credit card issuers to omit the procedure when the transactions come to less than NT$3,000 (US$92.17).
THSRC chairwoman Nita Ing (
``We are not satisfied with the way things are going,'' she said. ``But the situation will improve day by day.''
The ticketing glitches followed criticism about the project's numerous delays and questions about its safety standards.
Construction of the system began in 2000 with an original launch date of October 2005, but a delay in the completion of the project's core electrical systems forced a postponement to October last year.
The service was further held up after the operator failed to obtain a safety certification from independent verification and validation firm Lloyd's Register. The certification was eventually obtained on Nov. 20.
The company also canceled a Dec. 7 opening ceremony after the government said further tests were needed before it could be launched.
additional reporting by AP
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