The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) yesterday unveiled its new tilting train car, which will be used to enhance transportation capacity on the Eastern Line.
The nation’s largest railway service has purchased 136 tilting train cars from Japan. The first order of 16 cars is scheduled to arrive in October, with the remaining train cars scheduled to arrive by the end of next year.
TRA said it would conduct strict tests on the train cars that arrive in October before using them to carry passengers during the Lunar New Year holiday next year.
Currently, TRA has five tilting trains serving passengers on the Eastern Line. The trains automatically tilt when driven around a bend, allowing drivers to maintain high speeds on curved sections of track.
As the new tilting trains are to be used to carry Eastern Line -passengers, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has promised the train service will be named by the Taitung County Government.
Taitung County Magistrate Justin Huang (黃健庭) said the county has received about 2,200 proposed names for the new train service.
Some suggested it could be named after food produced in Taitung, such as sweet potato chips or Chihshang (池上) rice, while others said the train should be named after a famous singer from Taitung, such as Chang Huei-mei (張惠妹).
Huang said 20 of the suggestions would be selected and put to an online vote between July 5 and July 20, with votes received accounting for 50 percent of the final score.
The person whose proposed name for the service is chosen will be rewarded with a free hot air balloon trip for two people, valued at NT$16,000, and be able to ride the new tilting train free of charge for one year.
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