Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) had a record deficit of NT$13.79 billion (US$418.1 million) in its first year of corporatization last year, the company said yesterday, adding that it planned to hold a meeting today to discuss the potential of raising ticket fares.
The record deficit was due to additional employee welfare funds, underperforming ticket sales and lack of fare adjustments, it said.
Last year, the company anticipated a deficit of NT$7.4 billion, but by the end of December that number had increased to NT$12 billion.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
Yesterday it reported that the deficit was NT$13.79 billion.
TRC said it anticipated ticket revenue to be NT$18.5 billion, but the earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 last year impacted ticket sales.
Ticket revenue was NT$17.4 billion, it said.
Additionally, the company said it allocated NT$2.3 billion to employee welfare funds for the first time, as well as spending NT$200 million on transferring assets after corporatization.
Ticket prices have also remained the same for 30 years, which had a negative impact on operational losses, it added.
The number of employees steadily increased from 13,851 in 2017 to 15,924 in 2023, with labor costs reaching NT$16.8 billion, it said.
Labor costs have risen due to increases in night shift pay and hazard pay, it added.
TRC has been operating at an annual deficit of more than NT$10 billion since 2021.
The annual deficit was NT$11.9 billion in 2021, NT$11.1 billion in 2022 and NT$11.4 billion in 2023.
The company anticipates a deficit of NT$8.69 billion and ticket revenue of NT$18.79 billion this year, it said.
The company management hopes to adjust ticket prices to increase ticket revenue and decrease the deficit, it said.
The management team’s fare adjustment proposal must first be approved by the board of directors and then be submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for review.
After that, the proposal must be approved by the Executive Yuan.
The management team submitted a fare adjustment proposal to the board of directors in September last year, but the board requested additional information.
The board is expected to discuss the team’s second proposal today.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS