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.”
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