The Puyuma Express train will be launched on Feb. 6, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday.
TRA transportation department chief Du Wei (杜微) said testing of the first set of the new tilting train was nearly complete.
He said the train would be used to transport passengers heading to the east coast for the Lunar New Year holiday, adding that the second set was still under testing.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Each train consists of eight carriages, he said.
The first service is scheduled to depart from Shulin (樹林) Train Station at 9:40am on Feb. 6. The train will enable the TRA to add 56 trains during the nine-day holiday and provide an additional 2,000 seats daily.
Du said cabins No. 4 and No. 5 offer eight sets of table seats, with each accommodating four passengers. Two of the four passengers at the table seats would have to sit facing opposite the direction in which the train is heading.
Du said those wishing to buy tickets for the table seats must purchase four tickets at a time, adding that the TRA only accepts orders online or at station ticket counters.
“The seating arrangement in the cabins makes it easier for friends or family members to talk each other or play poker,” Du said. “Some people might feel uncomfortable if they sit next to or face a stranger the whole journey.”
However, Du said the TRA would accept orders from non-group travelers if there were still seats left in these two cabins within three days before departure.
Those heading to the east coast during the holiday can start booking tickets on Tuesday next week.
To ease congestion at peak hours, the TRA also announced it will offer four night express services on Feb. 7, Feb. 8, Feb. 15 and Feb. 16.
On Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, the night train will depart from Shulin at 11:28pm and arrive at Hualien at 2:35am.
The trains running on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 will depart from Hualien at 11pm and arrive in Shulin at 1:50am.
Passengers taking the night trains will get a 30 percent discount, the TRA said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS