The Taiwan Railways Administration yesterday said it would start trial runs next week of a “real-name” ticketing system for residents of Hualien and Taitung counties purchasing round-trip tickets to the east coast during the Dragon Boat Festival.
The system, which is to begin its trial run on Wednesday next week, has been proposed as a way to ensure that those born in Hualien and Taitung counties can purchase tickets to go home during the big three national holidays — the Lunar New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival — when tickets are in high demand.
The real-name system is to apply to passengers on the eastbound Puyuma Express to Taitung, departing Shulin Station at 7:43am on June 9, and to passengers on the westbound Puyuma Express train to Shulin, departing Taitung at 2:45pm on June 12.
Those who want to purchase tickets for those two trains can start booking tickets at 6am on Wednesday next week, the TRA said.
Only passengers whose personal identification card numbers begin with the letters U or V — which are assigned to people born in Hualien and Taitung — will be able to buy tickets under the real-name system.
Each person can purchase no more than three roundtrip tickets using three qualified ID cards, it said.
The last three digits of the ID cards will appear on the tickets for onboard inspection, it said.
TRA transportation department section chief Chen Yu-mou (陳裕謀) said the system does not apply to those who were not born in Hualien or Taitung, but live there because of work, school or other reasons.
The TRA said the results of the trial run would be included in a comprehensive report to be submitted to the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which had asked the agency to test the system for six months.
In related news, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) faced questions over his decision not to cancel highways tolls between 11pm and 6am during the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, with several lawmakers saying the ministry should persuade long-distance bus operators to offer larger discounts to travelers during those hours.
Hochen said the ministry made the decision because driving at night increases the risks of traffic accidents, adding that drivers are more likely to speed if the toll is waived.
The ministry should work with law enforcement officers to crack down on speeding, rather than canceling toll-free hours, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Hsuen-sheng (陳雪生) and Independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
Passengers on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) will be required to use headphones and make phone calls in gangways under new “quiet travel” rules starting Sept. 22. THSR Chairman Shih Che (史哲) told media that THSR will run a three-month promotional campaign to ensure widespread adoption of the new rules. Those repeatedly ignoring the guidance face the potential termination of their transport contract, which can result in them getting escorted off the train, according to THSR. Shih shared his hope to cultivate an environment conducive to rest and reading for the train’s passengers, stating that these changes aim to “promote self-discipline” among passengers
RSS