Taiwan Railway Corp’s (TRC) board of directors yesterday approved a proposal to raise ticket prices by an average of 26.8 percent.
The new pricing scheme would be implemented if it secures final approval from the Executive Yuan, which would be followed by a public comment period of two months.
Transport Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said the new fares could come into in effect as soon as the first half of the year.
Photo: CNA
The state-run railway operator said that this would be the first time in 30 years that it raises ticket prices.
Raising ticket prices is urgent and necessary, considering a 60.3 percent increase in the consumer price index and a 78.8 percent rise in the minimum wage in the past three decades, TRC deputy head of transportation operations Chen Jung-pin (陳榮彬) said at a news conference.
The company on Tuesday said that it had a record NT$13.79 billion (US$419.94 million) deficit last year.
“We want to ensure that the ticket price adjustment is acceptable to short-distance train commuters and maintains our competitive edge in the market for medium-distance travelers, while in the meantime not losing our long-distance customers,” Chen said.
The adjustment would not affect TPass users or those taking part in the frequent public transport user program, but the government’s subsidy to TRC for TPass users would rise by NT$280 million, the company said.
The company would adopt a system aiming to reward medium-to-long-distance passengers to prevent losing customers to the high-speed rail (HSR) system, Chen said.
The longer distance a passenger travels, the greater discount they would enjoy, he said, adding that people traveling more than 50km could receive discounts.
Following the price adjustment, a commuter train ticket from Taipei to New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) would cost NT$22, compared with NT$25 on the Taipei MRT and NT$30 for a bus.
The ticket price for a Tze-Chiang Express train from Taipei to Taichung would be raised to NT$501, Chen said, adding that the same route by an HSR train would cost NT$700.
A Tze-Chiang Express train from Taipei to Xinzuoying (新左營) station in Kaohsiung would cost NT$975, compared with NT$1,490 for HSR, Chen said.
The company also vowed to raise the train punctuality rate from 93.1 percent last year to 97.5 percent this year and 97.7 percent next year.
It also said that it is committed to having no major railway accidents and casualties this year.
Meanwhile, the company said it aims to gradually increase its customer satisfaction rate from 82.8 percent last year to 84 percent next year.
TRC vice chairman Liu Shuang-huo (劉雙火) said that the price adjustment would only help the company have a return on investment of 0.36 percent.
The total revenue from passenger and cargo services is expected to increase by NT$5.47 billion, Lin said.
The company expects to make a profit of NT$738 million this year, he said, adding that the company took travelers into account and aimed to minimize the negative impact on them when adjusting the ticket prices.
Although the price adjustment would increase the cash flow the company needs to address safety and service quality issues, it would still have NT$5.446 billion in financial losses in accounting books, which would be covered by the company’s other sources of revenue, he added.
The company is confident that the ticket price adjustment would not scare away customers, as it has seen a small increase in short-distance travel and has conducted a survey to see how customers would react to price changes, he said.
The company is aiming to break even by 2028, he said, adding that it is obliged to review the ticket pricing scheme every two years.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS