The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday said that it is to purchase 48 new carriages for its EMU800 commuter trains due to an excess in funding caused by the devaluation of the Japanese yen.
The TRA said the excess of approximately NT$2 billion (US$6.83 million) was left over from its previous 10-year carriage acquisition plan, in which the administration purchased carriages for Taroko Express and Puyuma Express trains as well as EMU700 and EMU800 trains.
The orders all arrived by May this year, it said.
The budget for the earlier acquisitions was NT$35.9 billion, the TRA said. Because of the devaluation of the yen, it still had NT$2 billion left and used it to order 48 more carriages from the Taiwan Rolling Stock Co, a joint venture of Taiwanese and Japanese companies.
The TRA said the order is to be delivered by September next year, helping it replace some older carriages.
The TRA plans to replace 30 percent of its older carriages in the next 10 years, it said, adding that with a budget of NT$99.7 billion, the plan will enable the administration to buy 600 carriages for intercity trains, 520 for commuter trains, as well as 127 locomotives and 60 eco-friendly carriages for branch lines.
The intercity trains, also known as Tze-chiang Express trains, are to be used mainly to increase the transport capacity for trains heading to the east coast, the TRA said.
Based on the TRA’s plan, each intercity train will be made up of 12 carriages, up from eight, it said.
The TRA plans to designate one of the 12 carriages as a business-class coach, which will have fewer seats, which will all be larger than those in regular coaches.
The TRA said the new trains will arrive after 2018, when upgrades to the Suhua Highway are to become operational, reducing demand for railway services.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS