Taiwan's railways face high-speed competition (Feature)

By David Chang Sep 16, 2008, 8:35 GMT

   Taipei - Half a million Taiwanese ride the trains every day to go to work or on sightseeing tours, but few of them are aware that Taiwan railways is running in the red.

   To Taiwan residents the 121-year-old railway is part of the island's landscape and appears to be operating smoothly. But the railway's operator, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), knows otherwise.

   The government-owned Taiwan railway's annual deficit has risen to 10 billion Taiwan dollars (313 million dollars) over the past decade.

   The deficit is caused by loss of passengers and rising expenses, including paying for pensions to 14,000 retirees and the salaries of 13,000 employees.

   Over the years, the round-the-island railway has faced growing competition, including the opening of the north-south expressway in 1978, the launch of long distance bus companies, the arrival of domestic airlines and the addition of a high-speed rail in 2007.

   Of all these, the 345-kilometre-long high-speed rail, built by a private consortium last year, poses the biggest challenge to Taiwan railways.

   'Our west line has been losing passengers since the launch of the high-speed rail in March 2007. In 2007, our revenues fell by 10 per cent year-on-year and the loss will increase in 2008,' Chang Ying-hui, deputy director of TRW, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

    'We are suffering a 13 per cent revenue loss on long-distance service and 5 per cent revenue loss on mid-distance service, but there is a 1 per cent increase in revenues on short-distance service,' he said.

    The railways has taken several measures to lure passengers but have not cut ticket prices yet, he said.

   The initiatives include offering package tours, leasing some train carriages to travel agencies to operate sightseeing trips, and allowing companies to charter a whole train.

   'In August, we launched the 'cruise train,' which is the train, like a cruise liner, stops at various scenic spots along the railway line to allow tourists to see the sea, smell flowers, ride bikes or do shopping for half and hour or one hour. Then the train moves again,' Chang said.

    This 'cruise train' service, which is a day tour, has been well received by Taiwanese and will become a daily service, though to difference destinations, starting from September 21.

   Many Taiwanese like to ride the slow-moving train because it is safe, comfortable and brings back the memories of Japanese colonial days.

   'Taiwan's railway was expanded during Japan's colonization of Taiwan (1895-1945). It is good and comfortable. Everything built by Japanese was solid and reliable. Whereas everything built by the Chinese Nationalist Government was shoddy work because the Chinese Nationalists planned to stay in Taiwan for a short time and wanted to recover the mainland,' Lee Mu-hsiung, a 56-year-old taxi driver in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, said.

    'Under Japanese rule, there was no corruption, no murders and no thieves. People could leave home without locking the door,' he said.

   Many Taiwanese living under Japanese rule to that of the Chinese Nationalists when they arrived in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War. The railway is one of the remaining links to the Japanese colonial period.

   The Taiwan government is helping the TRW boost business by launching overseas campaigns, especially to Japanese tourists, to promote train tours in Taiwan.       On a recent train tour in the hills outside Taipei, 290 Japanese tourists enjoyed an one-hour ride from Pinghsi, a disused mining town, to a waterfall.

   'The six-car train was pulled by a 70-year-old steam locomotive, and the Japanese were exited to see this old locomotive still working,' Ivy Wang from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, said.

   Steven Kaiser, an Australian train engineer working in Taiwan, said railways in most countries lose money and need state support to survive. Compared with other countries, he thinks that Taiwan railway is doing quite well.

  'Taiwan has done an excellent job in integrating the railway, high-speed-rail and the mass rapid transit system to provide the seamless transport to passengers,' he said.

   'While the traditional railway cannot compete with high-speed rail on long-distance journeys, it can make up by improving its service between small towns where the high-speed rail does not reach,' he noted.

    'While the high-speed rail is useful for those in a hurry, many people still like to sit in a slow train, open the window and enjoy the view while the train chugs along Taiwan's coast or lumbers into tunnels and rice fields,' he said.