TAIWAN HIGH SPEED SHINKANSEN TRAIN

[Taipei Walker]

From Nov. 9 THSRC will increase train frequency to 113 per day including 56 trains northbound and 57 trains southbounds, more info about new schedule at THSRC website:
http://www.thsrc.com.tw/tw/about/new...ent.asp?id=186

[Taipei Walker]

Some photos from my last trip to Taichung:

Taipei Main Station








platform










Taichung




there is quite a distance to the city












"Kiss and ride" car park




TRA








MOS burger




TRA New Wuri Station (not finished)












































pick up area




















this timetable will be outdated on Nov. 9


Front station plaza




































unfinished TRA station
























TRA station - it's opened but not finished and there are no signs of construction, it looks abandoned, very strange












TRA New Wuri Station




































few night shots

[Taihoku_Formosa]

Not only the tiles are still there, but also those ugly sign boards. It's like a person starts to wear new clothes, but still don't wanna get rid of his/her old ugly makeup or jewelry. TRA! please be a copycat and copy THSR, if you are not creative enough lol

[ignoramus]

Its shocking that at the main land transport hub to Taipei, one sees very different sides of Taipei, either the pretty or ugly side, depending on which direction he faces.

At the main ticket hall you look up to see the gleaming new Breeze Center, or the antique looking ticketing hall. At the concourse areas you see either the new THSR area, the neither old nor new Taipei Metro area or the old TRA area.

If the Taipei Metro and more importantly the TRA areas were touched up generally the Taipei Railway Station would look pretty nice.

Its also shocking that when one arrives back in Taipei on the last train, you see many many homeless on B1. I saw the police talking to some of them but they don't seem to be really chasing them away. Why?

[thyrdrail]

i think this is a reflection of the typical taiwanese attitude towards their country as commented by foreigners in forumosa.com. the attitude of "cha-bu-duo-lah" and "hai-hao-lah". you know, as long as it works no need to fix it. or why be first rate when 2nd rate is cheaper?

anyway, great pics taipeiwalker! looks like more and more people are taking hsr judging from the crowded stations and parking lots.

[superchan7]

These foreigners who lavish disdain upon the alleged "second-rate" culture in Taiwan clearly haven't been to the dusty countryside towns of their beloved "first-rate" Western countries.

Societies change--when the society matures, when people's wealth and lives mature, they will naturally begin to look at ways to improve and respect their environment with new attitudes.

Our beloved "first-rate" Western cities were never free of second-rate attitudes. When cities like New York began booming at the turn of the 20th century, was everything nice and clean as all the wealthy business owners would have it? Hardly. Like any major city that went through a big transformation, it was full of grime and neglect.

I don't want people to get the idea that "cha-bu-duo" attitudes don't exist in the West. Forumosa.com forumers can say what they want, but I wouldn't exactly rely on them to pour me a cup of water if you get my drift.

Ranting aside, THSR is a highly ambitious and risky project. I'm not in total agreement with the placement of the stations--Taipei Main Station has the best location out of them and that's an existing station so my credit to that is halfhearted. Let's hope that the coming wave of leaders and ministry officials have the insight and ambition to complete the THSR system--meaning, integrate the isolated stations with the cities in which they ought to belong.

[ed21x]

One thing that sort of irks me is the fact that many of the HSR stations are nicer and sometimes larger than Taoyuan Airport (not to mention, probably more expensive). Considering the government was willing to spend a ridiculous amount on a first-rate High Speed Rail and a dozen overbuilt stations (seriously, who needs airports at each train station?), couldn't they have spared a measely billion and refurbished terminal 1?

[thyrdrail]

i wish they would just build a totally brand new airport airport somewhere, like on a man-made island like in hong kong or kansai (that is if they can't find any empty parcels of land). and hire some well-known foreign architect like Fentress Bradburn who designed incheon and denver international airports or antonio calatravas. that would really put taiwan on the global map. incheon airport is already ranked one of the top 10 airports in the world by skytrax traveler survey.

[superchan7]

Originally Posted by ed21x

One thing that sort of irks me is the fact that many of the HSR stations are nicer and sometimes larger than Taoyuan Airport (not to mention, probably more expensive). Considering the government was willing to spend a ridiculous amount on a first-rate High Speed Rail and a dozen overbuilt stations (seriously, who needs airports at each train station?), couldn't they have spared a measely billion and refurbished terminal 1?

I personally think THSR appeals more to the south, who would not value as much the benefits of a renovated Taoyuan Airport.

[tr]

Originally Posted by ed21x

One thing that sort of irks me is the fact that many of the HSR stations are nicer and sometimes larger than Taoyuan Airport (not to mention, probably more expensive). Considering the government was willing to spend a ridiculous amount on a first-rate High Speed Rail and a dozen overbuilt stations (seriously, who needs airports at each train station?), couldn't they have spared a measely billion and refurbished terminal 1?

Originally Posted by superchan7

I personally think THSR appeals more to the south, who would not value as much the benefits of a renovated Taoyuan Airport.

THSR and Taoyuan Airport are two completely different projects.

THSRC: BOT project. The stations are not overbuilt. By the end of its first year of operation THSRC will have handled as many passengers as Taoyuan Airport. What do you think the passenger volume will be like in five or ten years when branch lines connecting the stations to urban centers and airports are completed?

Taoyuan Airport Renovation: The funds for this project must come from the MOTC budget, which has been cut/frozen/killed a number of times by the opposition controlled legislature. No budget = no construction!

[tr]

A quick scan of the new THSR timetable has revealed some very encouraging news. As of the ninth of this month THSR will offer an early morning train connecting Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Taichung with Chiayi. The service will finally allow passengers in Northern Taiwan to connect to the morning departure of the Alishan Forest Railway at Chiayi Station. This high-speed/low-speed combination has the potential to become one of the premier rail journeys in Asia.

THSRC
Taipei: 6:30
Banciao: 6:39
Taoyuan: 6:52
Hsinchu: 7:06
Taichung: 7:33
Chiayi: 7:58

Alishan Forest Railway
Chiayi: 9:00
Alishan: 12:27

[dragonball]

This Taiwan High speed railway is very similiar with crh2 .
anyone can tell me, what is the differen between thsr with crh2 ?

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by dragonball

This Taiwan High speed railway is very similiar with crh2 .
anyone can tell me, what is the differen between thsr with crh2 ?

They are basically the same since they are both the Sinkansen 700 series.

[SungIEman]

CRH2 is actually a modified version of E2 which runs at top speed of 250km/h, whereas 700T is an upgraded version of 700 which runs at a top speed of 300km/h.

[superchan7]

CRH2 is not based on Shinkansen 700; it is an E2 series.

[ed21x]

Originally Posted by SungIEman

CRH2 is actually a modified version of E2 which runs at top speed of 250km/h, whereas 700T is an upgraded version of 700 which runs at a top speed of 300km/h.

The 700T has a top speed of 350 km/hr, while the regular 700 has a top speed of 300 km/hr.

[SungIEman]

Originally Posted by ed21x

The 700T has a top speed of 350 km/hr, while the regular 700 has a top speed of 300 km/hr.

uh oh.. if that's the case then we have yet another instance of wikipedia being inaccurate. I guess wiki still has a long way to go before it becomes a accurate source.

[ed21x]

actually i may be wrong as well. I know the infrastructure is built for up to 350 km/hr, but the trains may have only been tested to the 320s or so. Either way, still pretty quick.

[asahi]

Originally Posted by ed21x

The 700T has a top speed of 350 km/hr, while the regular 700 has a top speed of 300 km/hr.

Regular 700s have top speed of 340 km/h, though in normal operation they run max. 285 km/h on the Sanyou Shinkansen route.
I'm not sure about the 700T.

[Taipei Walker]

In normal operaion 700T reaches 300 km/h: