From June 30, travelers are to be able to access every Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) station on the west coast through to Suao Township (蘇澳) in Yilan County with their Taipei EasyCards, iPass Cards or other electronic tickets after the installation of multiple-card readers.
TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) yesterday said that the new multiple-card readers have been installed from Suao to New Taipei City’s Fulong Station (福隆), as well as stations from Miaoli to Linnei (林內) in Yunlin County.
By the end of next month, Chou said that passengers would be able to access 164 railway stations from Suao to Pingtung with their EasyCards, iPass Cards, Taiwan Easy Go Cards or Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Cards.
With the exception of Puyuma Express and Taroko Express trains, passengers are to be able to board any train using any of the four cards. They are also to get a 10 percent discount on tickets.
The railway operator said that passengers riding Ziqiang Express trains with electronic tickets would not be eligible for the discount on trips exceeding 70km.
Trips of more than 70km on Ziqiang Express trains are to be charged the full rate, it said.
For example, the distance between Taipei and Sinfong Township (新豐) in Hsinchu County is less than 70km, so a one-way ticket would cost NT$89 with the discount, it said. However, a journey from Taipei to Jhubei City (竹北) in Hsinchu County would cost NT$164 for a one-way ticket based on Ziqiang Express rates, because the distance exceeds 70km.
The TRA said that passengers would continue to enjoy the 10 percent discount until the end of this year if they buy electronic tickets, adding that it plans to review the scheme next year.
The TRA has considered canceling the 10 percent discount because it caused significant financial losses. However, the operator decided to continue the scheme to encourage more people to use the public transport system.
In other developments, the TRA said it received the last of the EMU800 trains it ordered from Taiwan Rolling Stock Co (TRSC), adding that the trains would go into operation in July.
The TRA said it purchased 296 carriages from TRSC, enough for 37 trains. The first train was delivered in 2013, becoming operational in January last year.
The administration has so far started using 35 of the trains, while one more is still undergoing testing.
Chou said that the new EMU800 trains are to replace EMU400 trains, which are to be removed from service.
The new trains are expected to help increase passenger capacity by 25 percent, Chou added.
Chou said that the TRA plans to spend NT$100 billion (US$3.24 billion) to buy new EMU800 and EMU900 trains, with components to be purchased and assembled in Taiwan.
The arrangement has been estimated to generate NT$200 billion in domestic output, he said.
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