The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is to launch a rail service tomorrow featuring a train redesigned to look like those used by Japan’s Shinano Railway as part of an agreement between the rail companies.
The TRA said that it signed a friendship agreement with Shinano Railway in March last year, pledging to work together to facilitate the event.
To promote railway tourism in Taiwan and Japan, Shinano Railway in November redecorated one of its 115-series trains to look like an EMU100 Tzuchiang Express, while the TRA did the opposite for one of its EMU500s.
Photo courtesy of the TRA
The two railway operators also initiated a one-day pass exchange program, which is valid through March 31, the TRA said.
Travelers who present a used one-day pass for the TRA’s Jiji Branch Line can exchange it for a Shinano Railway Banzai two-day pass at any station in Japan with Shinano Railway services, the TRA said.
Likewise, people with tickets showing that they either departed from or arrived at Hualien Railway Station, or even have tickets bearing the Hualien Station stamp, can exchange them for a Banzai pass, it said.
Meanwhile, people with a used Banzai pass or a one-day pass between Nagano Prefecture’s Karuizawa and Nakano stations can exchange them for a one-day pass for use on TRA branch lines Pingsi-Shenao, Neiwan or Jiji, it said.
They must exchange the tickets at the Taipei Railway Station, Hsinchu Railway Station or the Ershuei Railway Station, the TRA said.
The TRA’s Shinano-decorated train is to depart from Changhua Railway Station at 10:11am tomorrow and travel to Jhunan (竹南) Railway Station in Miaoli County, the TRA said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS