The high-speed rail’s new quiet carriage policy has sparked concern over children disturbing other passengers, prompting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) to call on relevant ministries to devise more flexible measures within a month.
Under the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) new policy, passengers must switch their mobile phones to silent, use headphones when watching videos or listening to music, and only make phone calls in gangways.
Although the THSRC said that the policy does not restrict children and those with special circumstances, parents said they worry that fussy children would draw increased attention from other passengers.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp
Chen said that since this policy was launched, the THSRC has stated that if children make noise or disturb other passengers, they would help soothe them and offer small treats.
Children can only express their needs through crying, so just soothing them is not enough, Chen said.
Staff approaching crying children would only draw attention from other passengers and label the family as causing a disturbance, she said.
Chen called on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to work with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to devise more flexible measures within a month.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said his ministry last month asked the transport ministry to supervise the THSRC in addressing the controversy and would continue to monitor the situation.
The THSRC on Thursday last week said that from Sept. 22 to Wednesday last week, staff made a total of 13,000 reminders to passengers about quiet carriage rules, averaging fewer than five reminders per train.
More than 70 percent of these instances involved passengers talking on their phone or playing sounds aloud, it said.
According to the company’s data, 49 percent involved passengers talking on their phone, 24 percent involved passengers watching videos or listening to music without headphones, and 27 percent involved people chatting loudly enough to disturb other passengers.
Cases involving infants and children were extremely rare, THSRC said.
This shows that most noise during travel can be controlled through passengers’ own consideration and self-discipline, it said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS