The nation’s largest railway operator on Monday said it plans to purchase 600 new train cars for its Tzuchiang Express train service and install business-class cabins to attract premium passengers.
Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) unveiled the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review the performance of state-run businesses managed by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清) proposed that the railway operator consider introducing glass-domed train carriages to attract tourists, but Chou said the TRA would first have to address technical issues before it could consider such carriages.
If the plan to acquire 600 new railroad cars is approved by the new administration after it takes over on May 20, the TRA would post a public tender for the carriages online, Chou said.
Bidders with poor contract records will be eliminated in the first review of public tenders, he said.
The TRA will then select among the qualified bidders one that offers the most competitive price, he added.
Each new Tzuchiang express train is to be composed of 12 carriages, with one being designated a business-class cabin or a diner’s car, he said.
The new trains, which are expected to start operating in 2018 at the earliest, will be used on the Taipei-Taitung, Taichung-Hualien and Taipei-Pingtung routes, Chou said, adding that around-the-island tours would be more easily arranged after the South Link Railway is electrified.
Chou added that the TRA’s fourth-generation ticketing system is to be launched in June 2018, which would help the agency to collect passenger travel data and implement more flexible sales strategies.
The new ticketing system could offer more discounts to TRA members based on their travel mileage, he said.
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