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TAIWAN | High Speed Rail

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#1 ·
Taiwan Govt Creates Task Force To Oversee High Speed Rail
4 October 2005

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--The Taiwan government has created a task force to oversee a NT$480 billion project to build a high-speed rail system linking the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The task force, which will be led by Premier Frank Hsieh, plans to increase the government's number of seats on Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp.'s (2633.OT) 12-member board from the two it has now, Hsieh said in a statement Monday.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications will work out a 'reasonable' number of seats for the government that corresponds with its 11.9% stake in Taiwan High Speed Rail, Hsieh said. The government controls the 11.9% stake directly and through companies in which it has a stake of over 50%.

Taiwan High Speed's shareholders will elect a new board in May 2006.

The government wants more control over the progress of the project and effective 'crisis management,' the premier said. The task force was created after the government-linked China Aviation Development Foundation and China Technical Consultants Inc. together injected NT$7.5 billion in Taiwan High Speed Rail, which was holding its latest fund-raising round.

The builder of the island's first bullet train has delayed fund-raising plans several times after it failed to commit its shareholders to provide more capital as scheduled.

'After the government helped raise money for the project, we want to oversee the entire project and ensure the train begins to operate next year,' said Executive Yuan Secretary-general Cho Jung-tai Tuesday.

'The government is our partner anyway, according to the original build-operate-transfer contract,' said Ted Chia, a public affairs assistant vice president of Taiwan High Speed Rail.

The task force, which will meet once every two weeks, will gather officials from the transport, finance, interior and other ministries.

The project's five founding shareholders combined now own a 28.5% stake. Of the founders, the largest shareholder, Continental Engineering Corp. (2526.TW), owns only 7.2% in the project.

According to Cho, the government plans to replace one of its current representative controllers on the board, Kuang-Yu Chang, with the deputy minister of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Yuh-Lin Lee.

Cho added that the government will assist the company to resolve its differences with Japan's Shinkansen consortium, which is responsible for the system's core electrical system. In September, Taiwan High Speed Rail said the service's launch will be delayed by a year to October 2006 because of delays in completing the electrical system.

The entire project is 86% completed, with the core electrical system behind schedule, the Cabinet said in Monday's statement. By the end of August, 63% of the core electrical system was complete, said Chia.
 
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#175 ·
Updated Thursday, November 24, 2011 0:27 am
Wandering goat results in delay to high-speed train
CNA

TAIPEI--A southbound bullet train heading from Taipei to Kaohsiung was delayed by 15 minutes Tuesday after hitting a goat that had inexplicably found its way onto the high-speed rail's tracks, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) said.

No damage or casualties were reported in the accident except for a minor injury suffered by the animal, said company spokesman Chang Yung-hsiung.

The accident took place at 4:03 p.m. near the line's 103-kilometer mark in Miaoli County's Zaociao township. The driver stopped the train immediately to check out the situation, and he made sure the train was not damaged before continuing the journey, he said.

Chang said THSRC will look into how the animal found its way onto the railway's tracks, which are protected from intrusions by fences.

The animal, which suffered a minor injury to its left leg, has been returned to its owner, he added.
 
#178 ·
OK convenience stores to offer high-speed rail tickets
Taipei Times
Tue, Nov 29, 2011

Starting today, passengers on the high-speed rail can purchase tickets at OK Mart convenience stores, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced yesterday.

The same service is already being offered at FamilyMart, 7-Eleven and Hi-life. With the fourth convenience store chain coming on board, the high-speed rail will expand its number of access points for ticket sales from 8,500 to 9,300 venues nationwide.

THSRC said passengers could book their tickets through the “OK Go” Multimedia Kiosk at OK Mart stores, pay for them at the counter and receive the tickets on the same day. The service is available 24 hours.

Unlike competitors that charge a service fee of NT$10 per ticket, OK Mart will charge NT$8. From today until Dec. 12, customers will pay no transaction fee. Meanwhile, passengers can receive one free bottle of tea for each transaction from today until Dec. 26.

THSRC statistics show that about 8.46 million tickets have been sold through convenience stores since the service started 18 months ago, with an average of 13,000 tickets sold per day.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan Railway Administration said that passengers would be able to pick up tickets at convenience stores after booking them online by the end of this year.

The nation’s largest railway system has been planning to offer the service for more than three years, but problems related to service charges kept it from finalizing the deal with the stores.

Published on Taipei Times :
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/11/29/2003519500
 
#180 ·
Fri, Jan 13, 2012
High-speed rail can stop monitoring for birds: authorities
Published on Taipei Times : http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/13/2003523136

Members of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee yesterday agreed to allow Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) to stop monitoring for pheasant-tailed jacana along the route of the high-speed rail, saying that the ensuing preservation project should be conducted by the Council of Agriculture and Greater Tainan Government.

“THSRC must continue its care and support for the preservation of pheasant-tailed jacanas as part of its corporate responsibility,” the committee ruled.

The monitoring project was one of the promises that the rail operator made to secure approval for rail construction from the EIA.

The EIA committee members yesterday focused on the monitoring efforts in Hulupi (葫蘆埤) and Deyuanpi (德元埤) in Greater Tainan last year, the final two monitoring spots along the high-speed rail route. The project was executed by the Taiwan Development Institute, which was entrusted by THSRC to carry out the task. Researchers found that while Hulupi had seen a slight decrease in the number of pheasant-tailed jacanas compared with 2010, the number in Deyuanpi had increased.

Though the number of jacanas spotted in the Tainan area dwindled from 1,038 in 2006 to 478 last year, the study showed that more jacanas appeared after the high-speed rail began operations than when it was under construction.

Commenting on the decline in Hulupi, the researchers said a large number of jacanas were found dead in December 2010 after consuming rice poisoned by chemicals. However, the number rebounded in May last year thanks to eco-parks along the railway established by THSRC as well as incentives used to encourage farmers to grow water caltrops, one of the foods that jacanas consume.

The researchers added that they found more jacanas returned to habitats along the high-speed rail route, proving that noise created by the high-speed rail had little effect.
 
#183 ·
#190 ·
Fri, Dec 28, 2012
High-speed rail prices to stay same
Taipei Times Excerpt

The prices of high-speed rail tickets are not going to rise before the Lunar New Year holiday next February, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo said yesterday, adding that the ministry would conduct a comprehensive review of the system’s pricing mechanism.

“We currently have no plan [to raise ticket prices],” Mao said.

Mao made the announcement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to review the high-speed rail’s budget and construction funds for next year.

While Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) had just welcomed its 200-millionth passenger earlier this month, the operator faced mounting criticism at the committee.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse said the system had failed to reach its target of 150,000 passengers per day because ticket prices are too high. He added that fares are even higher than those of the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Railway in China that was launched on Wednesday.

He said that THSRC should lower fares to boost the occupancy rate.

DPP legislators Yeh Yi-jin and Kuan Bi-ling also opposed raising ticket prices.

Yeh said there would be high-speed rail stations in Yunlin, Miaoli and Changhwa counties by 2014. With the addition of these three new stations to the route, the travel time on the high-speed rail from Taipei to Kaohsiung would increase by 30 minutes if the train stops at every station, he added.

*************************

According to Mao, THSRC has accumulated financial losses of about NT$70 billion (US$2.3 billion) and collective loans of about NT$30 billion.
 
#191 ·
Construction of Yunlin HSR station set to start
BREAKING GROUND : Construction of stations in the two other counties still without HSR stations, Miaoli and Changhua, will start on Jan. 25 and Feb. 6 respectively
Taipei Times
Mon, Jan 14, 2013

Construction of the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Yunlin County is scheduled to commence in Huwei Township (虎尾) tomorrow, with costs to exceed NT$1.5 billion (US$51.8 million).

Yunlin County is one of the three counties that do not yet have high-speed rail stations, along with Miaoli and Changhua counties.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) chairman Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and other dignitaries have been invited to attend the ground-breaking ceremony.

The Bureau of High Speed Rail said the construction of the high-speed rail stations in Miaoli and Changhua would be launched on Jan. 25 and Feb. 6 respectively.

All three new stations are to become operational by 2015, the bureau added.

Meanwhile, the bureau said that the government has completed the building of the high-speed rail station in Taipei’s Nangang (南港) district and handed it over to the THSRC to install the machinery and railway tracks. The contract stipulates that the company must complete the work by 2015.

The bureau said the company would need to re-examine its operational model because the number of stations has increased from eight to 12, and the travel time of the express train service from Taipei to Kaohsiung must not exceed 96 minutes.

THSRC estimated that travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung would increase to two-and-a-half hours if the train stops at every station along the route except Nangang.

Because the station in Yunlin is in Huwei Township, whose name is literally translated as “a tiger’s tail,” THSRC said that the architecture would convey the imagery of a tiger’s stripes and tail.

Because Yunlin County is known to have a land subsidence problem, the company said it planned to adopt a new construction method to ensure the stability of the new station, which is on an overpass. Instead of using dirt to refill the ground under the overpass, the company is planning to use solid and high-density expandable polystyrene (EPS) to fill the ground to avoid additional sinkage.

The company said that 1m3 of fill dirt weighs between 2 tonnes and 2.5 tonnes, but 1m3 of EPS weighs only 200kg.

However, EPS costs about NT$3,000 per cubic meter, which is 10 times more expensive than fill dirt.
 
#202 ·
BREAKING GROUND : Construction of stations in the two other counties still without HSR stations, Miaoli and Changhua, will start on Jan. 25 and Feb. 6 respectively
Taipei Times
Mon, Jan 14, 2013

Construction of the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Yunlin County is scheduled to commence in Huwei Township (虎尾) tomorrow, with costs to exceed NT$1.5 billion (US$51.8 million).

All three new stations are to become operational by 2015, the bureau added.

Meanwhile, the bureau said that the government has completed the building of the high-speed rail station in Taipei’s Nangang (南港) district and handed it over to the THSRC to install the machinery and railway tracks. The contract stipulates that the company must complete the work by 2015.

The bureau said the company would need to re-examine its operational model because the number of stations has increased from eight to 12, and the travel time of the express train service from Taipei to Kaohsiung must not exceed 96 minutes.

THSRC estimated that travel time from Taipei to Kaohsiung would increase to two-and-a-half hours if the train stops at every station along the route except Nangang.
Can they explain why?
The existing express trains take 1:36 Taibei to Zuoying, skipping 4 stations:
Taoyuan
Xinchu
Chiayi
Tainan
The all-stop trains take 2:00. Which is 24 minutes more.
That makes 6 minutes per stop.
So, when 3 more intermediate stops are added, should the all-stop trains take "two-and-a-half hours", meaning 2:30, or should they complete the trip in 2:18 - the extra 18 minutes for the 3 extra stops at 6 minutes each?
 
#193 ·
Over 10 million train rides recorded in CNY holiday
CNA
February 21, 2013, 12:04 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Travelers in Taiwan made more than 10 million trips on Taiwan's regular and high-speed trains during the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month, data showed yesterday.

Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) recorded over 8.07 million rides, while Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) logged over 1.93 million rides during the period Feb. 7-18.

On the regular railway, the average daily ridership was 673,000, which was a 10.7-percent increase from last year.

On Feb. 14, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, ridership rose to a peak of 841,000 compared with 746,000 last year.

The average daily number of rides on the high-speed rail was 161,000, up 6.8 percent from the same period last year.
 
#195 ·
Police: 600 evacuated from Taiwan train after explosives found
By Andrew Lee, for CNN
April 12, 2013 -- Updated 1315 GMT (2115 HKT)

(CNN) -- Six hundred passengers were evacuated from a high-speed train in Taiwan on Friday after explosives -- attached to a timer and apparently close to detonation -- were found in luggage inside a restroom, police said.

The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. train stopped at Hsinchu City after someone found the explosives in two pieces of luggage shortly after 9 a.m., according to police.

Police said the luggage was emitting white smoke, and people nearby could smell gas. The setup included 5 liters of gasoline and an activated timer device to trigger them, police said.

Investigators believe the explosives would have detonated had authorities not intervened, according to police. They said they believe the blast would have taken out one carriage.

A carriage can carry about 60 passengers.

Police did not release any information about who could be responsible for the device.

The train started at Zuoying and was headed to Taipei.

Images below from Apple Daily Taiwan :





 
#199 ·
Police: 600 evacuated from Taiwan train after explosives found
By Andrew Lee, for CNN
April 12, 2013 -- Updated 1315 GMT (2115 HKT)

(CNN) -- Six hundred passengers were evacuated from a high-speed train in Taiwan on Friday after explosives -- attached to a timer and apparently close to detonation -- were found in luggage inside a restroom, police said.

The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. train stopped at Hsinchu City after someone found the explosives in two pieces of luggage shortly after 9 a.m., according to police.

Police said the luggage was emitting white smoke, and people nearby could smell gas. The setup included 5 liters of gasoline and an activated timer device to trigger them, police said.

Investigators believe the explosives would have detonated had authorities not intervened, according to police. They said they believe the blast would have taken out one carriage.

A carriage can carry about 60 passengers.

Police did not release any information about who could be responsible for the device.

The train started at Zuoying and was headed to Taipei.
Any followup on this?
 
#196 ·
Tue, Jun 25, 2013
THSRC seeking to extend exclusive operating rights
Taipei Times

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) yesterday said that it is seeking to extend its exclusive operating rights to 99 years as a solution to its financial problems.

The company is scheduled to hold its regular shareholders meeting today.

The high speed rail system was built under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, under which THSRC received exclusive rights to operate the system for 35 years. It came into effect on July 23, 1998.

The company’s financial crisis emerged two years after the high-speed rail officially began operations in 2007, when its accumulated financial losses topped NT$72 billion (US$2.4 billion at current exchange rates). The crisis eased after loans worth about NT$380 billion were secured following government intervention in 2010.

Though the company managed to turn a profit two years ago, it still has an accumulated deficit of approximately NT$60 billion.

The Bureau of High Speed Rail, which represents the government in overseeing THSRC operations, confirmed that the company had proposed a plan to improve its financial situation. According to the bureau, the company said that it failed to meet its estimated passenger volume and revenue because of a number of factors, including the 921 Earthquake in 1999, the financial burden of subsidizing tickets for the handicapped, senior citizens and children, as well as the global financial downturn.

The company held that the 1999 earthquake was a natural disaster it had no way to prevent, and that subsidized tickets should be funded by the government’s budget for social welfare programs. The global financial downturn hit passenger volumes, the company said.

Aside from allowing the company exclusive rights to operate the high speed rail system for 99 years, the bureau said THSRC also proposed that the government, among other measures, assist it in securing loans and reduce interest rates.

“Based on the terms of the contract, all the non-force majeure reasons will be evaluated and determined by the members of the high-speed rail coordination committee. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is handling this matter based on the terms of the contract,” the bureau said in a statement.

The bureau also said that the THSRC plan lacks financial analyses to back up its claims, as well as specific steps for implementation. Some of the company’s proposals may involve changes in contract terms, the bureau added.

The bureau said that it has asked the company to provide additional information and help clarify some of the details in the plan.
 
#203 ·
the travel time of the express train service from Taipei to Kaohsiung must not exceed 96 minutes.
Where does this 96 minutes come from? The time required to be competitive with airlines? Some politicians wishes? I say let the railways decide what are the best times for their services, and run as fast as required, not as fast as possible, and leave government meddling out of it.
 
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