The addition of an extra day at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday — the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve — has successfully alleviated travel congestion, so the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has made the change permanent.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday visited the Freeway Bureau to see the status of traffic on the nation’s highways, and Taipei Railway Station to see travel conditions on services provided by Taiwan High Speed Railway Corp (THSRC) and the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).
After extending the holiday by one day greatly reduced passenger transportation problems, the ministry fully embraced the measure and adopted it as a standing policy, Lin said, citing statistics from last year and this year.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The agency expected that pre-holiday passenger numbers would peak between Tuesday afternoon and today, Lunar New Year’s Eve, Transport Division head Chang Chin-sung (張錦松) said yesterday.
People are expected to return to the regions where they work between Sunday and Tuesday next week, Chang said, adding that the TRA expects to transport 600,000 passengers per day, with possibly 700,000 on Sunday.
The TRA has mobilized an additional 288 trains over the holiday, as well as discounted express trains that depart from Taipei, Yilan and Hualien stations, Chang said.
The eastern line would feature midnight trains and trains with only registered seating, Chang added.
The TRA expects a 20 percent increase in its traveler conveyance efficiency on the eastern line and the South Link Line, Chang said.
Yesterday, THSRC transported about 140,000 people and the company expects to transport 200,000 people on Saturday, THSRC senior manager Chen Yi-hua (陳益華) said, adding that the company is providing 1.79 million seats throughout the holiday, an increase of 29.4 percent.
From Monday to Tuesday next week, THSRC trains are only to offer registered seating, with all eating and drinking prohibited, Chen said.
The train cars are being disinfected more frequently, he added.
Meanwhile, the Freeway Bureau said that there was slight congestion for southbound traffic on the Suhua Highway from 6am to 7am yesterday, although traffic on the freeway was smooth the rest of the day.
The bureau also opened road shoulders to larger vehicles from 5am yesterday.
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