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MOTC still unhappy with high-speed rail price scheme

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is pressing the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) to revise its pricing plan, even as the company prepares to get its operation permit this week and begin trial operations soon after that.

The THSRC submitted its preliminary price plan to the ministry in the middle of October.

Under that plan, the cost of an economy-class car ticket from Banciao (板橋) to Tsoying (左營) would be NT$1,490.

A Banciao-to-Taichung ticket would cost NT$700.

Ministry officials said yesterday that the price for each journey had hit the cap specified in the build-operate-transfer contract. They said there was no price differential between rush and non-rush hour tickets and no discount for round trips either. Passengers will also be charged a processing fee of 10 percent to 20 percent of the cost if they want a refund.

The officials said the prices could be lower.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of High Speed Rail said yesterday that in case of an accident, passengers would be compensated based on the Railway Law (鐵路法). The law states that families of passengers who die in a railway accident will receive NT$1.5 million (US$46,000) in compensation.

The amount seems low when compared with what airlines offer, which is usually at least NT$3 million in case of death.

The bureau has asked the company to recalculate its compensation offer.

To celebrate the official launch of the new system, the Chunghwa Post has begun issuing High Speed Rail stamps. Each set has two NT$12 stamps, one featuring the 700-T locomotive and the other featuring the Hsinchu train station.
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