Adjusting the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) ticket pricing scheme is not the government’s top reform priority, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
Wang made reforming the nation’s oldest and largest railway agency his No. 1 policy goal when he assumed the position on Tuesday last week, after the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment in Hualien on April 2 killed 49 passengers and injured 244.
Many have proposed salvaging the debt-ridden TRA by raising fares, which have not been adjusted for 26 years.
The railway agency has an accumulated financial loss of about NT$400 billion (US$14.31 billion) — of which NT$140 billion is loans and NT$60 billion is pension fund payments, Wang told reporters during a visit to Keelung’s Heping Island.
The government is to give the agency a yearly subsidy of NT$4.8 billion for pension fund payments, which would gradually reduce its pension fund debt, Wang said.
“The agency is also to be compensated NT$1.1 billion annually for the financial losses it has accumulated over the years as it maintained railway stations in remote areas and along less-profitable routes,” Wang said.
However, it is impossible for the government to pay off the agency’s debts in one fiscal year, he added.
“The subsidies we are proposing are designed to prevent the TRA’s financial situation from deteriorating. We also hope that the agency would be able to balance its budget through a more creative use of its properties and assets,” Wang said.
“The first and foremost task is to enhance the safety of the TRA system. At this stage, raising train fares is unreasonable,” he said.
Wang said that he would focus on increasing the agency’s revenue through asset development before considering raising train fares.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
RSS