Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said yesterday that beginning on Thursday, it would operate eight southbound train services from Taipei to Taichung between 5pm and 9pm every Friday consisting solely of non-reserved seat carriages to ease passenger pressure.
The announcement came after the high-speed railway operator faced criticism for not limiting sales of non-reserved seats for the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers’ Day weekend last month, resulting in large numbers of non-reserved-seat passengers spilling into reserved-seat cars and leaving many passengers with reserved seats unable to board during the first two days of the holiday.
Statistics from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed the number of high-speed rail passengers reached a record-high 347,979 on the first day of the holiday. The system transported approximately 1.788 million people during the four-day long weekend, ministry data showed.
Photo: Wu Cheng-fung, Taipei Times
Railway Bureau Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said last week that pressure on the high-speed system’s capacity is unlikely to ease until all 12 newly procured train sets enter service by 2028.
The THSRC said three of the new train sets are scheduled to begin operations in July next year. Before new trains are added to the service fleet, the high-speed rail operator said that it would implement special service deployment plans designed to maximize its transport capacity during peak or even super peak hours.
The peak hours for the high-speed rail system refer to the period from 5pm to 9pm on Friday, while the super-peak hours occur when the time coincides with the beginning of a long weekend or a major national holiday, it said.
During peak hours, cabins of non-reserved seats are often crowded, particularly in sections north of Taichung, it said.
Starting on Thursday, eight southbound train services would operate at the beginning of every weekend between 5pm and 9pm and provide only non-reserved seats, except business-class cabins. The eight train services would depart from Nangang or Taipei and terminate in Taichung.
Under the special deployment plan, trains would reverse directions directly at the platforms, without returning to the depot, the company said, adding that trains depart again after a 12-minute interval.
This would reduce the train deployment time by one hour and increase capacity during peak hours, quickly transporting southbound passengers and reducing the wait time for northbound passengers, it added.
The company said that the special scheduling would be implemented for the first time on Thursday, the last workday this week before people begin the three-day holiday weekend.
THSRC would run a pair of Taichung-bound train services departing from Nangang or Taipei hourly from 5pm to 9pm that would stop at every station along the way, each with nine to 11 cars of non-reserved seats.
During the Double Ten National Day holiday travel period, 23 additional train services would be provided to help accommodate increased passenger demand, it said.
To encourage passengers to travel during off-peak hours, an extra late-night service would be operated on Thursday, while an additional northbound service would be added on Saturday, it said.
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