Starting on Dec. 22, Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) passengers will be able to pick up their tickets at convenience stores after booking them online or over the telephone, the railway service said last week.
The service will begin simultaneously at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK convenience stores at 6am, which will help increase the number of access points for ticket sales to approximately 10,000 venues, the TRA said.
To collect the tickets, passengers would need to present their ID cards as well as their booking codes.
In addition to paying for the ticket, the TRA said passengers would need to pay a transaction fee of NT$8 per ticket. Currently, TRA passengers can only pick up tickets at train stations or designated post offices, which are only open during office hours.
The TRA said if passengers want to cancel an order, they can do so by returning to the convenience store where they collected the tickets, or a different branch of the same chain. If they paid by credit card, they can get a refund at a railway station.
In related news, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) started taking ticket orders for the New Year holiday period over the weekend.
The high-speed rail operator said it is offering a total of 600 services between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. Passengers purchasing tickets 15 days in advance would get an early-bird discount of 30 percent, whereas those buying eight days in advance would get a 10 percent discount.
The TRA is to start selling tickets for the New Year holiday on Dec. 16.
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