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Once seen throughout Taiwan, the Fu-hsing carriage has been gradually superseded by more modern carriages or high-speed trains.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.
A Straits Exchange Foundation official today warned that yielding to political pressure in exchange for access to China’s entertainment industry rarely ends well, amid rumors that China is seeking to lure Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜). Chou, more commonly known as Tzuyu, is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice. Her contract with JYP Entertainment is set to expire at the end of this year, and there have been widespread reports that she would not renew it. She is reportedly planning to pursue solo activities under her parents’ agency, Yu Hai Entertainment (瑜海娛樂), although China has also reportedly offered
A tropical depression near Hainan that was once Typhoon Saudel may once again strengthen into a tropical storm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, but a sea warning for waters around Taiwan is unlikely. CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said that Saudel would return to being a weak tropical storm by late yesterday or early this morning. However, as the storm is to gradually weaken again and would head toward China’s Guangdong Province away from Taiwan, the chances that it would affect Taiwan enough for the CWA to issue a sea warning are relatively low,
China has revised its National Defense Mobilization Law to prepare for a rapid transition to wartime, with an official today saying the measures are aimed at helping Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) fulfill his “historic mission of national unification.” The revised version of the mobilization law is to take effect on Oct. 1, marking the first major revision since the law was enacted in 2010. The amendments define national defense mobilization as measures taken in response to threats to national sovereignty, unification, territorial integrity, security and development interests, including efforts to ensure rapid transition between peacetime and wartime and convert economic and
Yielding to political pressure in exchange for access to China’s entertainment industry rarely ends well, a Straits Exchange Foundation official said yesterday amid rumors that China is seeking to lure Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜). Chou, who goes by Tzuyu, is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice. Her contract with JYP Entertainment is set to expire at the end of this year, and there have been widespread rumors that she would not renew it. She is reportedly planning to pursue a solo career under her parents’ agency, Yu Hai Entertainment, although China has also reportedly offered to help Tzuyu
RSS