The Taroko, a brand new tilting train manufactured in Japan, was introduced in Hualien yesterday.
The Taiwan Railway Administration has spent NT$2.7 billion (US$82.2 million) for purchasing 48 tilting TE-1000 Series railway cars and locomotives from Hitachi.
Hitachi delivered 10 locomotives and 14 cars on Dec. 17 and another 24 are expected to be delivered in October.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"I am so happy to tell everybody that with the Taroko, it will only take less than an hour to travel from Taipei to Ilan and less than two hours to travel from Taipei to Hualien," Su said at the inauguration ceremony held yesterday in front of Hualien Railway Station.
The railway administration plans to operate the Taroko trains between Taipei and Hualien.
"The first 24 cars are going through a 60-day test and this procedure will be completed on Feb. 15," said Tseng Neng-min (曾能民), an executive for the administration's Hualien section.
"The brand new train will be able to help transport passengers during the Lunar New Year, but we will not officially launch the service until sometime in March, with the exact date yet to be decided," he added.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
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Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
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