New railway cars to be unveiled today

Taiwan's first high-speed-railway passenger cars are set to leave the factory today, Taiwan High Speed Railway Corp (THSRC) officials said yesterday.

In a sneak preview of the new railway cars, the manufacturers will be displaying four of the completed passenger cars in Japan today.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三), THSRC chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪), former premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) as well as Taiwan's top representative to Japan, Lo Fu-chen (羅福全), will be present to inaugurate the railway cars in Kobe today.

According to THSRC official Ting Li-hua (丁莉華), 12 passenger cars will be shipped to Taiwan in May. After a period of assembly, the cars will be tested by the THSRC at the Kaohsiung high-speed-railway station.

The high-speed railway is scheduled to be ready for public use in October of next year.

The T-700 model passenger cars will be painted orange and black on white in keeping with the THSRC's logo.

Each train will consist of 12 passenger cars, with one business cabin and 11 standard cabins. The cars are more than 30m in length and weigh over 453.5 tonnes each.

Manufactured by the Taiwan Shin Kan Shien Corp (TSC) in conjunction with Kawasaki Railcar Inc and other Japanese manufacturers, the cars are being manufactured on a BOT (build, operate, transfer) basis.

When completed, the high-speed railway will cut travel time between Kaohsiung and Taipei to 80 minutes.