The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday announced that it had generated a record NT$25.3 billion (US$848.91 million) in revenue last year, and broke records for earnings from its side businesses.
“What was extraordinary was that we earned NT$5.3 billion in revenue through side businesses alone last year. We also began to gradually reduce the occurrence of railway incidents last year. Between January and April this year, our train punctuality rate has greatly improved to 95.3 percent,” TRA Director-General Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) said at a ceremony at Taiwan Railway Station to mark Railway Day and the agency’s annual Railway Festival.
“These accomplishments are made through the collective efforts of all TRA employees,” he added.
Photo: CNA
The signing of an agreement with the Taiwan Railway Labor Union after nearly 30 years of negotiations was another of the TRA’s major achievements last year, Chang said.
The TRA faces many challenges this year, from passenger demand over the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday and several long weekends to adhering to the nation’s disease-prevention measures against COVID-19, he said.
Although the agency has 239 railway stations and serves more than 500,000 passengers per day, it has not become a weak link in the nation’s disease-prevention efforts, Chang said.
“We have also shown our appreciation for healthcare providers, the police and firefighters by delivering TRA lunchboxes to them,” Chang said.
“I also want to thank President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) for agreeing to raise employees’ allowances, a decision that has benefited 1,129 TRA employees,” he said. “We will soon submit our proposed salary adjustment plan to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and hope to secure approval from the Executive Yuan.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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