The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) aims to cancel the 10 percent ticket discount granted to passengers who use EasyCards or other e-tickets, adding that the new policy could take effect before the Lunar New Year holiday next year.
The agency’s proposed policy would affect mostly rail commuters, the TRA said.
TRA statistics show that 250,000 passengers use electronic tickets to board the trains each day.
The administration said riders holding EasyCards, Kaohsiung MRT cards or other electronic cards get the 10 percent discount if they are traveling within rail sections from Fulong Village (福隆) in New Taipei City to Miaoli County in the north as well as from Linnei Township (林內) in Yunlin County to Pingtung County in the south.
The discount also applies to passengers traveling on the administration’s five branch lines — Pingsi (平溪), Lioujia (六家), Neiwan (內灣), Jiji (集集) and Shalun (沙崙).
Passengers using the cards to access the TRA system are charged commuter train rates, regardless of the train service they use, the TRA said.
The agency said that the number of electronic ticket users has grown from 28,000 per day to 250,000 daily over the past six years.
However, the increase in passengers has not translated into a significant growth in revenue, the TRA said.
On average, the TRA loses NT$3.3 for every NT$30 it earns, it said.
TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said that the discount was intended to encourage the use of e-tickets, and that the goal has been reached.
He added that cardholders can now board express trains while paying commuter train ticket prices and still get a further 10 percent discount, which is not fair to other express train users who pay the full fare.
Based on the agency’s plan, multiple-card readers that allow cardholders to access TRA trains are to be installed in all west coast and east coast locations by March 2016.
To ensure that long-distance express train travelers pay full price, e-card users would be able to board an express train only if the travel distance is less than 70km, the TRA said.
For example, people leaving from Taipei Railway Station could not use e-tickets to board express trains if their final destination is beyond Shinfong Station (新豐) in Hsinchu, the TRA said.
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