Ticket fare adjustments for the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) services will not greatly increase the burden on commuters, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) promised on Thursday, adding that it would consult the pricing scheme of each locality’s public transport system before finalizing its plan to raise prices.
Hochen made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, during which lawmakers were scheduled to unfreeze the budget allocated to some agencies of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Much discussion at the meeting focused on the TRA’s proposed adjustment of railway ticket prices, which have not changed for 26 years.
Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said the administration’s commuter trains are used by 500,000 people daily, while Tzuchiang-class express trains are used by about 100,000 passengers.
He said that the ministry must be extremely cautious when it adjusts prices, as they particularly affect those who need to commute to work or school by train, adding that the ministry should ensure that commuters could quickly transfer from TRA lines to other public transport systems and would be given discounts if they do so.
He also said that passengers taking the push-pull express trains should be charged less than those taking the Puyuma Express trains, because they are older and run slower.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said that the ministry needs to explain to the public in detail why it needs to adjust the ticket prices, in particular why the agency would lose money without a higher ticket price.
As an example, Lin said that train passengers commuting daily between Taipei and Taoyuan would have to pay NT$800 more each month based on the administration’s proposed pricing scheme in 2007, adding that it should consider either a comprehensive rise in ticket prices in all railway sections, or raise prices in different sections in separate phases.
Hochen said that the government did not enforce the pricing scheme proposed in 2007 because of the global economic recession.
Now is the time to review the ticket price and reform the TRA, as it is likely to face tougher challenges, he said.
Frequent railway travelers would be given discounts in the new pricing scheme, he said, adding that TRA ticket types would have more variety thanks to technological advances.
Hochen added that the administration is studying the possibility of implementing a differential pricing scheme that considers various factors, such as estimated travel time and peak and off-peak hours.
He also said that the new pricing scheme focuses on reasonable fares for commuters, rather than for long-distance travelers.
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