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TRA mulls sleeper cars to Taitung

A man rests on a bed in an air-conditioned sleeping car of the Jingguang railway express train in China on Friday. PHOTO: CHANG HSUAN-CHE, TAIPEI TIMES

The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) is evaluating the possibility of offering sleeper cars on some of its overnight trains between Taipei and Taitung.

The Chukuang Express trains No. 11 and No. 63 operating between Shulin, Taipei County and Taitung City are considered most likely for such services.

TRA spokesman Chang Ying-hui (張應輝) said both trains operate at night, departing around 10pm or 11pm and arriving at around 5am or 6am, a sleeper car service would enable passengers to rest comfortably and should prove popular with travelers.

The TRA said it is considering adding one 20-bed sleeper compartment to each train. The price of a sleeper ticket would be about double that of a seat on a Chukuang Express, or more than NT$1,500.

Chang said some of the TRA's newly purchased EMU700-model trains are being delivered. When all the new trains are ready to go into operation, the current Chukuang Express and Fuhsing Express trains will gradually be phased out, and some of them will be redesigned as sleeping cars.

Railway experts Cheng Min-chang (鄭銘彰), a member of the Railway Culture Society, and Cheng Yu-Che (鄭羽哲) said there was probably a market for a sleeper car service along the eastern rail line, but the TRA should carefully evaluate the management strategies for such a service.

They said it is not a question of redesigning old trains or buying new sleeper cars, because personnel and maintenance costs could turn out to be very high.

Hsu Yang-hao (許洋豪), another railway expert, said that if the train stops at too many stations, the added-value of a sleeping car would be reduced.
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