The Pingtung Railway Station recently received thousands of New Taiwan dollars and a letter of remorse from a former commuter who evaded paying fares for a month many years ago, the stationmaster said on Tuesday.
The commuter, who used to travel from Greater Kaohsiung to Pingtung, sent NT$6,000 and a note, saying he was sorry for not paying fares for a month by buying tickets with tokens and by exploiting loopholes in railway regulations, stationmaster Tang Ching-yuan (唐慶元) said.
“I was young and ignorant at the time, with little sense of right and wrong. I used to commute between Kaohsiung and Pingtung, but for about one month, I purchased tickets using tokens and used loopholes to evade paying fares. I’m deeply ashamed of my poor behavior and would like to provide compensation for my misconduct with NT$5,000,” the note said, despite actually giving NT$6,000.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
Station staff said that the sender could have commuted between the two stations by local train, with a one-way ticket priced at NT$31, a return ticket for NT$59, and an even lower price of NT$1,107 for a monthly pass.
Therefore, the man overpaid by NT$4,893, which the staff assumed was his way of paying back years of interest from his “outstanding debts.”
The case was reported to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), with the belated fares paid to the treasury, the stationmaster said.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, staff writer
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