Taoyuan Metro Corp yesterday announced that it would launch limited-edition specially themed trains in collaboration with Japan’s Nankai Electric Railway Co and the Taoyuan Department of Tourism.
This is in the lead-up to the opening of Expo 2025, which is to open in Osaka, Japan, on April 13, it said.
A Taoyuan-themed train began running on Tuesday last week between Kansai International Airport and Wakayama in Japan’s Kansai region, with the final destination being Osaka’s Namba Station, Taoyuan Metro said in a news release.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan Metro Corp via CNA
The train features some of Taoyuan’s most famous tourist attractions, such as Dasi Old Street (大溪老街), Zhongli Night Market and the Lalashan (拉拉山) National Forest Recreation Area, it said, adding that the train would introduce the natural and cultural beauty of Taoyuan to passengers.
The second train debuted yesterday on the Taoyuan Airport Express MRT line, featuring designs from Nankai Railway’s routes, including Osaka’s Tsutenkaku Tower, Mount Koya and the cultural landmarks of Sakai, it said.
Both rail systems run on important lines connecting airports to major cities, Taoyuan Metro Corp said, adding that it signed a cooperation agreement with Nakai Railway Co in 2017, and over the past eight years, they have expanded their collaborations.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan Metro Corp via CNA
This latest project brings the charms and unique aspects of Taiwanese and Japanese culture to railways, while also serving as a tourism guide for both places, it added.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a