Just six months ago, Yungkang and Paoan were two remote train stations awaiting to be downsized as part of reform efforts launched by the debt-ridden Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA).
Now, the two tiny stations in the southern Tainan County have abruptly seen their business triple after a television commercial by a potential competitor -- a car company, officials and a newspaper said yesterday.
The commercial attempts to assure the car's safety by alluding to the two station's names, which together mean "safety and health forever" in Mandarin.
Hooked by the commercial, hundreds of people had flocked to the two stations if only to buy a ticket worth just NT$15, a local newspaper said.
"Many of the people who purchased the tickets did not really take the 13-minute ride," a TRA official said.
"Instead they simply kept the tickets feeling they would bring them good luck and safety," he told said.
Chen Ming-sung, head of the Yungkang station, said a chief executive officer of a steel company had bought 2,250 tickets as souvenirs for his clients.
Chen said his station now reported some NT$3 million worth of revenue a month, up from NT$3 million total revenue in the first part of this year.
The monthly revenue of the Paoan station had tripled to NT$600,000, the newspaper said.
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