Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday agreed to communicate with Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) about the possibility of exempting train operators from electricity price hikes that take effect next month.
Taiwan Power Co, which is overseen by the economics ministry, last week announced that industrial users of high to ultrahigh voltage systems would be charged 17 percent more for electricity.
Electricity prices are also to be raised by 3 percent for households that consume more than 700 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month, and 10 percent for households using more than 1,000kWh per month.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
In a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday morning, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) asked Wang Kwo-tsai whether the price hike would substantially increase the operating costs of the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), which would cause them to raise their ticket fares.
TRA Director-General Tu Wei (杜微) told the committee that the railway agency expects its operating costs to grow by between NT$250 million and NT$350 million per year due to the electricity price hike, while THSRC chairman Chiang Yao-chung (江耀宗) said that the high-speed rail system’s operating costs would increase by NT$300 million per year.
Both said that they have no plans to raise ticket prices for now.
Hung said that the transportation minister should speak with the economics minister about exempting the TRA and THSRC, as well as MRT system operators nationwide, from the electricity price hike.
Wang Kwo-tsai said that he is willing to communicate with Wang Mei-hua about Hung’s proposal once he has evaluated how price increases would affect the systems.
Separately, maritime pilots are now required to undergo a breath-alcohol test before they start work, after the Cypress-flagged Hyundai Tokyo container ship on Monday hit a pier while trying to berth at the Port of Kaohsiung, severely damaging pier facilities.
The reactions of the pilot guiding the ship might have been affected by alcohol.
“The Maritime and Port Bureau is to complete the investigation into this incident in two weeks. The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the incident,” Wang Kwo-tsai said. “If insobriety is identified as the cause of the incident, the pilot’s license will be suspended for three months to two years, based on the Pilotage Act (引水法).”
Maritime pilots are in charge of guiding ship captains to dock at harbors, not steering ships, he said, adding that they were not subject to any alcohol restrictions prior to the incident.
In other transport-related news, commuters in the nation’s three main metropolitan areas would soon be able to access public transport systems with the monthly passes introduced in their areas after adjustments were made to ticketing systems, the transportation ministry said.
Among Taiwan’s 22 administrative regions, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties are the only two municipalities that do not offer monthly passes.
The three metropolitan areas are: Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and New Taipei City in the north; Taichung and Miaoli, Changhua and Nantou counties in central Taiwan; and Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County in the south.
“The three areas have very clear monthly pass programs, with some of them offering monthly passes for intercity and inner-city travelers,” Wang Kwo-tsai said. “Our goal is that commuters can start using these passes in July.”
A monthly pass costs NT$1,200 in the north, NT$699 in central Taiwan and NT$999 in the south.
Taichung and Kaohsiung also offer inner-city monthly passes for NT$299 and NT$399 respectively.
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