To ease the gridlock on the nation's roads during the Lunar New Year, passengers who like to plan ahead can start to book their trains or flights today, transportation officials said.
From today, passengers can book eastern line trains for the period between Jan. 11 and Feb. 14.
From tomorrow, passengers can also book western line trains for the same period, according to the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA).
"The tickets for Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 will be sold out soon, since people will be rushing home then to celebrate with their families. Also, the tickets for Feb. 13, 14, and 15 may also be sold out very quickly, as people need to return for work. Passengers should take advantage of advance bookings," the TRA's director-general Hsu Ta-wen (
Passengers can dial the advance booking hotline on 412-6666 and 412-1111 to book their trains and can claim their tickets 30 minutes after booking time at local stations or post offices.
The railway authority also reminded passengers who booked their tickets online to claim them within five days at local train stations.
"Last year, the TRA handled 570,000 passengers on a single day during the traffic peak before the Lunar New Year's Eve. This year, we expect to expand the daily load to up to 590,000 passengers," Hsu said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) also announced that a total of 526 flights will take off between Feb. 3 and Feb 16. In these 14 days, the CAA will add 312 flights to the Taiwan-Penghu route, offering a capacity of 23,666 seats.
The CAA also plans an extra 208 flights on the Taiwan-Kinmen route in the same time period, offering a capacity of 21,830 seats. An additional six flights with a total load of 336 passengers will run from Taiwan to Matsu during the vacation.
"For the sake of efficiency, the airways companies will offer advance bookings from 6pm to 8pm daily," CAA Director-General Billy Chang (
Meanwhile, the Central Weather Bureau also cautioned people to keep warm during this week. As Taiwan is being influenced by a large cold air mass from China over the next two days, the mercury may drop to a low of 11?C, the bureau said.
Another cold front may arrive on Friday and the temperature is expected to edge lower, according to the weather forecast.
The navy has installed 13 Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapons systems on its warships, increasing their defensive firepower, a defense official said on Saturday. The systems cost the navy NT$10.16 billion (US$314.67 million), while eight additional Block 1A systems are being upgraded in the US and are expected to be delivered next year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Phalanx system used by Taiwan to defend its warships and key radar installations is a radar-cued gun system capable of firing 4,500 rounds a minute at targets as far away as 1.5km, the official said. With their superior range of
RACE FOR CHIPS: The Dresden site would help Europe reduce its reliance on Asia for semiconductors, while Germany aims to produce one-fifth of the world’s chips by 2030 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday broke ground in Dresden, Germany, on its first European plant as the continent seeks to safeguard its chip supplies amid growing US-China tensions. TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) attended the event, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the heads of Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Robert Bosch GmbH, which each hold a 10 percent stake in the venture. TSMC owns a 70 percent stake in the plant. “Together with our partners, Bosch, Infineon and NXP, we are building our Dresden facility to meet the
‘CLOSE TIES’: Former Japanese PM Yoshihiko Noda also attended the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security and spoke of Taiwan’s importance globally China’s authoritarian expansionism would not stop with Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, calling for solidarity among the world’s democracies to check Beijing’s territorial ambitions. Taiwan is determined to become a decisive force for democracy, peace and prosperity, standing side-by-side with its democratic partners to confront authoritarian expansionism and protect shared values, he told the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security in Taipei. Authoritarianism is now a global challenge, Lai said, using as examples Chinese military expansionism, economic coercion and the use of hybrid warfare tactics such as cyberattacks and cognitive warfare. “We are all fully aware that China’s growing authoritarianism will
RECOVERY: Overall, average income across all age groups increased, climbing to a record NT$709,000 last year, on the back of an improved economy, the DGBAS said Taiwanese workers under the age of 30 last year, on average, earned an annual income of NT$545,931 (US$17,044), a new high, as the economy continued to improve, data released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. That equated to monthly earnings of NT$45,494 per person, and marked an increase from NT$535,667 in 2022, the data showed. In addition to an improved economy, average incomes rose as the unemployment rate declined and the minimum wage rose, the statistics agency said. Overall, average income in Taiwan also hit a new record of NT$709,000 last year, up from NT$704,000 in 2022, the data