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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS