Fifty new express trains that are to begin arriving in June would initially expand service in eastern Taiwan, where tickets can be difficult to obtain, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said on Sunday.
The new trains, an EMU3000 model made by Japanese manufacturer Hitachi, would “effectively solve difficulties that passengers are having getting tickets to Hualien or Taitung,” the TRA said in a news release.
Although the trains, which cost NT$44.3 billion (US$1.56 billion), would initially be used on the east coast, they could be used on multiple routes, especially those connecting to destinations in western Taiwan, the agency said.
They provide greater capacity, because the EMU3000 model has 12 cars rather than eight, like the Taroko and Puyuma express trains, it added.
The TRA said that it would take delivery of one train in June and another in July, five more by the end of this year, another 15 next year, another 16 in 2023 and the rest in 2024 — allowing it to gradually replace all trains aged 30 or older over the next three years.
Facing harsh criticism for its safety practices after the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment on April 2, the agency said that it aims to use the new trains to increase its competitiveness, in response to suggestions by one of its unions.
The Taiwan Railway Labor Union on April 5 said that the agency should make more flexible service arrangements to help make its trains more competitive with the High Speed Rail (HSR), which operates on the west coast.
The union said that the TRA could, for example, move its fastest Puyuma and Taroko trains to the western line so that a nonstop trip from Taipei to Kaohsiung would only take three hours.
The fastest TRA trains make the trip in about four hours, while HSR trains take 90 minutes or about two hours, depending on how many stops are made.
Some of the existing Tze-Chiang Express trains — which have 12 cars — should be moved from the western line to routes in eastern Taiwan, the union added.
The Tze-Chiang Express trains and the new trains — which both travel at about 130kph — could meet increasing travel demand between Taipei and eastern Taiwan, the union added.
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS