Three new high-speed rail stations — Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin — are scheduled to open today, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday.
The first trains to serve the three stations are due to depart from Taichung at 6:30am, with one scheduled to arrive in Miaoli at 6:50am, and the other two to reach Changhua and Yunlin at 6:44am and 6:50am respectively.
The company said that more than 3,100 tickets have been sold departing from the three new stations on the opening day, while more than 2,300 tickets have been sold that arrive at the three new stations.
According to the past behavior of high speed rail customers, an estimated 60 percent of passengers buy their tickets on the day of departure, making it difficult to estimate the effect of the addition of the three new stations on passenger numbers, the company said.
The additional stations will increase the number of stops form eight to 11 and cut the number of non-stop express Taipei-Kaohsiung trains by 30 percent, while Taipei-Kaohsiung trains that stop at all stations would take 138 minutes and are due to run once an hour.
To celebrate the opening of the new stations, the company is to offer special discounts between today and Dec. 15, including free tickets for passengers who arrive at or depart from one of the new stations.
Between today and Monday next week, souvenir tickets marking the opening of the new stations are to be issued to passengers who use the stations. In addition, the price of a one-way ticket for regular Taipei-Kaohsiung trains is to be cut to NT$1,490 from NT$1,630.
The 345km high-speed rail system was inaugurated in January 2007. The other eight stations are Taipei, New Taipei City’s Banciao (板橋), Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Zuoying (左營) in Kaohsiung.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS