On September 28, when Taiwan’s Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers’ Day holiday ended, Taiwan High-Speed Rail carried 34만7963 passengers in a single day.
Although this was only 7 passengers short of the single-day record, the congestion caused by unreserved- and reserved-seat passengers crowding in at once remained a major inconvenience.
High-speed rail changed some operating methods to distribute passengers, but improvements for the next holiday have not yet been finalized.
3-Line Summary
1. High-speed rail carried 34만7963 passengers on the return day
2. It was 7 passengers short of the single-day record
3. Measures for the next holiday are still under review
Return Day Was 7 Passengers Short of the Record
According to UDN, Taiwan High-Speed Rail carried 34만7963 passengers on September 28, the holiday return day. This was 7 passengers fewer than the single-day record of 34만7970 passengers set on September 24. Cumulative ridership over the five days from September 24 to 28 exceeded 156만 passengers.
This holiday lasted four days, from September 25 to 28, and because the first day coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, people returning to their hometowns traveled early. The fact that ridership approached the record shows the scale of travel demand, but it does not mean that many passengers traveled comfortably.
Yahoo News reported that long lines formed at major stations and high-speed rail stations, and that passengers in reserved seats complained that it was difficult to move to their seats in cars crowded with unreserved-seat passengers. One on-site example also emerged in which congestion was so severe that only 10 unreserved-seat passengers could board a single trainset.
Simultaneously Attempting 9 Unreserved-Seat Cars and Shorter Turnarounds
Taiwan High-Speed Rail said it had changed the way 8 southbound trains operating between Nangang Station and Taichung Station stopped at Taichung Station in response to this demand. The measure involved stopping the trains at Taichung Station’s northbound platform to reduce the time until they departed again.
These trains were assigned 9 unreserved-seat cars. The company explained that, during the peak congestion period, passengers without reserved seats at Taichung Station were able to board after waiting about 20 minutes, helping achieve the goal of quickly transporting passengers from central Taiwan and areas northward. This was an operational result observed by the company, not an announcement that congestion had been eliminated across all sections.
On September 28, the company also added trains operated entirely with unreserved seats, excluding business-class cars. Of these, 2 trains departed from Chiayi Station for the first time, and the company said the two trains carried more than 3500 unreserved-seat passengers during the peak congestion period, reducing waiting times and crowds inside stations north of Chiayi.
The Difference in Tone Left by the Minister’s “2-Hour Journey” Remarks
Chen Shih-kai, Taiwan’s Minister of Transportation, said in an interview on September 29 that he had traveled from Taichung to Taipei by national highway the previous evening, arriving in about 2 hours, and that traffic had been smooth. However, according to Yahoo News, some users criticized the remarks, saying that the day and time were different from when congestion had been severe.
The minister acknowledged that the passenger experience during this holiday had not been good and said he would hold meetings with high-speed rail, Taiwan Railways, intercity bus operators, and airlines to discuss how to respond to the next holiday. However, the meetings and negotiations were mentioned only as plans at this stage. What was confirmed during this holiday was record-level demand and the results of some passenger-distribution measures; how those measures will actually be implemented during the next holiday has not yet been presented.
References
- UDN, Report on high-speed rail holiday return-day ridership
- Yahoo News, Reports on holiday traffic congestion and the minister’s remarks
Tags #TaiwanTransportation #TaiwanHighSpeedRail #HighSpeedRailCongestion #MidAutumnFestivalHoliday #TeachersDayHoliday #ReturnJourney #UnreservedSeats #ReservedSeats #TaichungStation #ChiayiStation #Taipei #RailTransport #HolidayTransportation #ChenShihkai