Just as the nation's first high speed railway sped along the west coast of the island last Friday, the nation is also marching toward a revolution.
At 300kph, the bullet train shortens travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung to 90 minutes from the original four hours it took by conventional train, allowing people to travel between north and south Taiwan more quickly than before.
In the new era, Taiwanese could find themselves living in Taichung and working in Taipei while shopping in Kaohsiung on weekends.
But convenient travel is merely the first change brought about by the new rail system.
The price of properties along the line -- mostly farms -- has skyrocketed since the construction of the high speed rail began and are expected to rise even more. The service and tourism industries in areas where the bullet train passes will also prosper as the operation of the new system matures.
Meanwhile, conventional railways and domestic airlines will be hard hit. Aside for mulling a joint operating plan with three other domestic carriers, Mandarin Airlines (華信航空), the sole carrier servicing the Taipei-Taichung route, is considering abandoning the flights.
The new rail system will also contribute to the nation's pivotal high-tech industry by forming an industrial chain, Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (
The trains pass by the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Taichung's Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) and the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan.
The high speed rail system will also benefit from knowledge-intensive sectors such as the financial service and consulting, law and accounting sectors, said Huang Chung Che (黃崇哲), director of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research's (TIER, 台經院) BOT Research Center.
The rapid movement of professionals will allow for the expansion of sales to various regions and help competition by weeding out the weak players, Huang said.
Changes brought by the high speed rail, however, will be even more profound.
Like the TGV system in France that helped to disperse populations from big cities to the suburbs and open up fast economic development in isolated regions, the government hopes the trains will shorten the gap between towns and counties. However, the experience in Japan tells another story.
Forty-three years ago, Japan's economy started to change fundamentally, following the introduction of the world's first high speed train, Tokaido Shinkansen.
The train reduced travel time between Tokyo and Osaka -- the two largest cities in the country -- from at least six hours to three hours and 10 minutes. The faster transportation caused a dramatic change in inter-regional migration and traffic flow.
Since then, a substantial number of Japanese have migrated to the three major economic regions, including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, from rural areas. Jobs, resources and economic activities were siphoned away from rural areas.
Like the Shinkansen effect in Japan, Taiwan is about to experience a spatial restructuring during which the borders between towns and counties will blur, TIER president David Hong (洪德生) said.
Big cities will attract talents and resources from the counties, but counties boasting a high quality of life could lure people from the city, Hong said.
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