New high-speed rail (HSR) paper tickets using QR codes and enlarged fonts are on sale from today at ticket counters in Nangang, Banciao and Chiayi stations, before being rolled out nationwide to replace the magnetic-strip system by the end of 2026, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) spokesperson Calvin Yen (顏昭立) said today.
The new ticket is double the size with lettering enlarged 1.5 times for the convenience of elderly passengers, Yeh said.
QR codes are to replace the original magnetic-strip paper tickets, saving 98 percent of the energy originally used per ticket at station barriers, he added.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
According to THSRC statistics, electronic tickets — including periodic tickets, return tickets, EasyCards and i-Passes — were used by HSR passengers a total of 28.11 million times, up 30 percent from 2022, he said.
As HSR tickets become increasingly digitized, the paper tickets have been designed for ease of use for elderly passengers, featuring a clear monochromatic design with a QR code clearly printed on the left-hand side and enlarged characters for important information in the center such as destination and departure time, Yeh said, adding that seating information is displayed on the right side.
The new tickets are to be issued at ticket counters at Miaoli, Tainan and Zuoying stations from Jan. 8, before being sold at all 12 stations on the HSR line in the first half of next year, he added.
As for self-service ticket machines, the new tickets are to be available at machines in Taipei, Taoyuan and Changhua from Wednesday next week, and at Taichung, Hsinchu and Yunlin from Dec. 24, with other stations adding the new tickets to self-service machines beginning in 2026, he said.
Until the end of 2026, both old and new versions of HSR tickets are to be accepted at all stations, he added.
The new design is also a step toward the company’s goal of operating a completely paperless ticketing system, Yeh said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of