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Refunds galore as rain hits fast train

A passenger shows his proof of refund as other passengers wait for their refunds after the high-speed rail suffered a delay of 96 minutes, its longest delay to date, because of heavy rainfall yesterday morning. PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Affected by heavy downpours, the nation's high-speed rail suffered its longest delay yesterday morning since the service started in January.

Nine bullet trains, including four northbound services and five southbound, were delayed by more than half an hour, said Ted Chia (賈先德), assistant vice president of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp's (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) press office.

"By 4:30pm, there were 1,220 passengers who were granted refunds," he said at a press conference yesterday.

A total of 4,520 passengers had booked tickets on the nine trains, said THSRC public affairs manager Christina Tao (陶令瑜), adding that the company had not tallied the total amount refunded.

THSRC allows passengers arriving at their destinations half an hour after the scheduled time to receive a 50 percent refund, while a 100 percent refund is given to those arriving more than one hour late.

Eight of the trains reached the destinations late because of heavy rains in Miaoli County.

"Ultimately, we hope to expand the total number of daily train runs in each direction to 88."

Nita Ing, THSRC chairwoman

Sensors deployed at slopes to detect landslip near the track were activated in the morning, causing two trains to stop for around nine minutes. They moved on at a slower speed of 45kph when it was confirmed that passengers were in no danger, THSRC said.

The slower speed caused subsequent trains to miss their schedules.

Another train departed from Tsoying (左營) in Kaohsiung City at 8am, but arrived at Taipei Railway Station 96 minutes late, which was the longest delay.

Vibration sensors on the train's 10th carriage were activated during the trip and technicians boarded the service at Taichung to examine the alert.

"Our initial check suggested a sensor circuit malfunction. We ruled out any human factor," Chia said.

Bad weather was the cause of the delays and precautions were taken according to procedure, he said, adding that the bullet trains were built to withstand rainy weather and typhoon conditions.

The company would compensate passengers on a case by case basis if delays happened again, he said.

The delays and losses from ticket refunds came a day after the company said that it was expecting to break even next month.

During a ceremony on Thursday to celebrate a NT$65.5 billion (US$2.0 billion) syndicated loan, THSRC chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪) said the company was set to break even next month, with monthly revenues reaching NT$1.45 billion, up from NT$1.2 billion last month.

THSRC has now secured a total loan pool of NT$373.8 billion.

There are 31 services in each direction on the high-speed railway. Ing said full utilization of system capacity would raise that to a total of 88 commercial and maintenance train runs per day.

The number of trips in each direction was scheduled to increase to 41 or 42 per day next month, Ing said, and then to 61 in September.

"Ultimately, we hope to expand the total number of daily train runs in each direction to 88," Ing said.

THSRC is expected to start an online ticket reservation system next month. The company will also start automated voice ticket reservation services in September.

Ing said on Thursday that the company, which is listed on the Emerging Stock Market (興櫃市場), will seek listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange next year.
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