The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp., which runs the network, reported last month that ticket revenues accumulated between Jan. 1 and Aug. 9 totaled US$470 million, surpassing 2007's figure--the first year of services. In addition, the volume of passengers between Jan. 1 and July 16 reached 15,561,212, outnumbering last year's total by 5,556.
"Despite typhoons Kalmaegi and Phoenix in July, the single-month revenues still hit a new high, surging by 58.98 percent over the same period last year to US$66 million, which is also an 8.66-percent increase over June's income," stated the corporation. "This marks a new milestone for the service. With the number of passengers continuing to grow steadily, the average daily volume of passengers is now around 90,000."
At present, the rail service offers discounts of 36 percent for business class seats and 28 percent for non-reserved standard class seats from Monday to Thursday, which means that traveling by business class and standard class from Taipei to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan costs US$52 and US$36 respectively per person during weekdays.
THSR Spokesperson Ted Chia said with today's high fuel prices, many people think it makes economic sense to take public transportation. Travel time on the services' express trains from Taipei to Kaohsiung takes just 90 minutes and the regular trains two hours.
In an effort to better distribute passenger numbers across all services, the corporation is studying ways of discounting tickets for off-peak periods, said Chia. "This new fare system, which is still under discussion, will be carried out by December at the latest. The new prices will be announced one month prior to implementation," he explained.
As the corporation celebrates improved results, bus operators and the Taiwan Railways Administration, which runs the traditional railways, have been struggling to keep their heads above water. Bai Xian-de, general manager of U-Bus Co., which operates routes all over western Taiwan from Taipei to Kaohsiung, described THSR's fare slashing as the "genocide" of long-haul buses. Meanwhile, most bus companies have reported reduced passenger volumes by 20 to 30 percent since the high-speed rail began operation.
Although bus remains the cheapest way of traveling between Taipei and Kaohsiung--for example, a one-way ticket costs only around US$16, trips are slowed by congested highways, with the journeys sometimes taking up to seven or eight hours.
Assessing the high-speed rail's impact on traditional railways, TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei identified the most seriously affected stations as those in Taipei, Banciao City in Taipei County and Kaohsiung. "This indicates that what we have lost are mostly long-haul passengers. To deal with this challenge, we shall commit more resources to upgrading services of middle-haul trips, east-west trains and urban commuting," he said.
Write to Author at melody@mail.gio.gov.tw