The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) will offer a “frequent rider” program from March 30, allowing member customers to accumulate mileage on the railway. Memberships can exchange points for tickets, or be given priority when it comes to ticket refunds.
Taiwan Railway spokesman Chang Ying-hui (張應輝) said that once the membership system is up and running, Taiwanese nationals could register at www.railway.gov.tw/.
According to the TRA, one point is awarded for every 80km, or every NT$30. For example, a round-trip journey between Taipei and Kaohsiung would accumulate 50 points, while a round-trip journey between Taipei and Taichung would accumulate 22 points.
Customers can exchange 500 points for a ticket that covers a travel distance of 100km or less with a face value within NT$227. For 750 points, they can get a ticket covering travel distances within 200km. Customers can exchange the maximum 4,000 points for a three-day TR-PASS, valued at NT$1,800.
According to Chang, points are valid for two years from the date of accumulation and membership status may be shared with family and friends.
Meanwhile, in response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Kun-cheng’s (賴坤成) criticism that travelers on the Hualien-Taitung line pay high prices for tickets yet sit in -decades-old cars that aren’t even electrified, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) promised to tackle the issue within three months.
In other news, beginning on April 1, all of the nation’s senior citizens and physically challenged individuals will be granted a 50 percent discount on mass rapid transit (MRT) fares in Taipei and Greater Kaohsiung, the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) said.
The benefit was previously limited only to residents of the two special municipalities who are over age 65 or are physically challenged, but will now be offered to visitors from outside the two cities, CPC official Liu Chin-fang (劉清芳) said.
The new measure was initiated after authorities convinced local governments outside of Taipei and Kaohsiung to bear the costs of the discounted fares rather than having the MRT operators in the two cities absorb the losses in revenue, the CPC said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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