To ease the gridlock on the nation's roads during the Lunar New Year, passengers who like to plan ahead can start to book their trains or flights today, transportation officials said.
From today, passengers can book eastern line trains for the period between Jan. 11 and Feb. 14.
From tomorrow, passengers can also book western line trains for the same period, according to the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA).
"The tickets for Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 will be sold out soon, since people will be rushing home then to celebrate with their families. Also, the tickets for Feb. 13, 14, and 15 may also be sold out very quickly, as people need to return for work. Passengers should take advantage of advance bookings," the TRA's director-general Hsu Ta-wen (
Passengers can dial the advance booking hotline on 412-6666 and 412-1111 to book their trains and can claim their tickets 30 minutes after booking time at local stations or post offices.
The railway authority also reminded passengers who booked their tickets online to claim them within five days at local train stations.
"Last year, the TRA handled 570,000 passengers on a single day during the traffic peak before the Lunar New Year's Eve. This year, we expect to expand the daily load to up to 590,000 passengers," Hsu said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) also announced that a total of 526 flights will take off between Feb. 3 and Feb 16. In these 14 days, the CAA will add 312 flights to the Taiwan-Penghu route, offering a capacity of 23,666 seats.
The CAA also plans an extra 208 flights on the Taiwan-Kinmen route in the same time period, offering a capacity of 21,830 seats. An additional six flights with a total load of 336 passengers will run from Taiwan to Matsu during the vacation.
"For the sake of efficiency, the airways companies will offer advance bookings from 6pm to 8pm daily," CAA Director-General Billy Chang (
Meanwhile, the Central Weather Bureau also cautioned people to keep warm during this week. As Taiwan is being influenced by a large cold air mass from China over the next two days, the mercury may drop to a low of 11?C, the bureau said.
Another cold front may arrive on Friday and the temperature is expected to edge lower, according to the weather forecast.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS