Chang Chieh-wen (張潔文), a commissioner at the National Civil Service Institute's Mid-Island Campus, yesterday became the 10 millionth passenger to use the high speed rail, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) said.
Chang, 50, who makes her home in Chung Hsing New Village, Nantou County, said she only learned the news after boarding a high speed train at Taichung bound for Taipei at 7:38am.
She said she had asked others to book three tickets for herself and two colleagues on Sept. 18, adding that she was surprised to hear that she was the 10 millionth passenger.
Chang said that when she arrived at the Taichung station, she saw a lot of vehicles from TV stations around and thought that she was going to travel with some important figures.
She said she never expected to be the star attraction herself.
"I'm so happy. I feel like I've won the lottery," Chang said.
THSRC vice president Ted Chia (
The other passengers traveling in Chang's carriage received a 10 millionth passenger memorial key ring, Chia said.
He said that after selling the 10 millionth ticket on Sept. 18, the THSRC had set up life-size human figures at both the Taichung and Taipei stations with information to notify the holder of the ticket that they were the 10 millionth passenger, adding that the company did not find out who the 10 millionth passenger was until yesterday morning.
The high speed railway was formally inaugurated on Jan. 5. It reached the 5-million-passenger mark on May 28. The company had originally estimated that the 10 million mark would not be reached until the latter half of next month.
Chia said that the high speed railway currently carried around 1.5 million people per month, adding that in order to enhance its services, the THSRC has increased the number of trains from 38 per day to 91 per day.
The company is considering further increasing the number of trains from November, he said.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS