The last Fu-hsing semi-express train, once the workhorse of the nation’s passenger railways, is to be retired from service tomorrow, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said on Saturday.
The train’s final trip — from Hualien to New Taipei City’s Shulin Station (樹林), a journey of 3 hours, 22 minutes — is to depart at 6:05am.
The Fu-hsing carriage, introduced in the early 1980s, was the first locally built train and the first in the nation to have air-conditioning.
Photo: CNA
Once seen throughout Taiwan, the Fu-hsing carriage has been gradually superseded by more modern carriages or high-speed trains. Only running on four TRA routes, it is being replaced by the new EMU900 carriage, the EMU500 or the Tze-chiang limited express.
One of the last routes to be modernized was the Fu-hsing 691, or the “Mystery Train,” Hualien Station manager Wu Ching-tien (吳金添) said, adding that the weekly service between Hualien and Shulin Station — a journey of 2 hours, 56 minutes — departed on its last run yesterday at 2:02pm.
With the introduction of the Tze-chiang train on that route, the fare is to be increased from NT$283 to NT$440, he added.
The worn Fu-hsing carriages are to be demolished, while those deemed salvageable are to be used on the South Link Line, the TRA said.
In honor of the carriage’s decades of service, the TRA is selling 300 commemorative tickets on tomorrow’s final run from Hualien Station to Sincheng Station (新城) for NT$150, which includes an assigned seat and official TRA validation.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book