The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is to incur a financial loss topping NT$7.492 billion (US$233.89 million) after it is officially corporatized in January next year, based on a budget it submitted to the legislature.
The agency’s estimated business revenue for the 2024 fiscal year is NT$34.452 billion, while business expenditure would reach NT$41.944 billion, the agency said.
The loss would be a 60.33 percent increase from NT$2.819 billion budgeted for fiscal 2023, it said.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
The TRA said that the expected increase is because the soon-to-be-established railway company would bear additional financial burdens during its first year of operations:
First, a 4 percent pay raise for all workers would increase expenditure by NT$600 million, it said.
Second, 1.5 percent of state-owned Taiwan Railway Co’s capital would be allocated to establish employee welfare funds, costing about NT$1.2 billion in total, it said.
Third, the new company would assume losses of NT$1 billion due to asset depreciation and amortization, the TRA said.
“As a public facility, the TRA is tasked with serving society and must not run a profit-oriented operation,” it said. “However, the agency has had a severe funding shortage, as train ticket prices have been kept low and it can no longer cover the costs.”
“The agency’s ability to pay short-term debts is inadequate and it must carry a heavy interest burden as well,” it said.
The TRA has had some relief, with the government paying its interest obligations for the TRA’s employee pension fund and derivative debts, it said.
The state has also subsidized its less-profitable railway services, including stations with low use rates, it said.
The TRA said that losing customers who prefer high-speed services for long-distance travel was inevitable, but it is finding ways to replace that lost revenue.
The TRA is to offer “Intercity MRT services” on the west coast by increasing commuter train services and working with other public transit operators to offer train passengers seamless transfers between services, it said.
With complete electrification of railway services across Taiwan to be finished soon, the TRA plans to increase ridership to the east coast by working with tour operators, it said.
Other plans include an increase in freight services and participation in urban development plans to profit from its properties, the agency said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS