Bureau dismisses early HSR deployment suggestion

• By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter, in Tainan

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The Railway Bureau has dismissed a suggestion that the new high-speed trains could be put into service ahead of schedule to ease capacity constraints, saying that the trains must pass all required tests before they can enter service.

The first of 12 newly acquired high-speed trains arrived in Taiwan in mid-August and has been assembled, but still needs to undergo static and dynamic testing, said Railway Bureau director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) told reporters in Tainan on Thursday.

“Testing is a mandatory part of the approval process,” Yang said, adding that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications would not authorize Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) to put the new trains into service unless all required tests have been completed.

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) 700T train, currently in service, left, and the new-generation N700ST train, right, are pictured in an undated photograph.

Photo courtesy of the THSRC

Yang made the remarks in response to a suggestion that new high-speed trains be deployed to ease capacity constraints after many passengers with reserved seats were unable to board their trains on the day before last week’s Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers’ Day long weekend, as aisles in reserved-seat cars and passageways between carriages were blocked by passengers spilling over from non-reserved cars.

Aside from the one that arrived in mid-August, two other new trains are scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan next month and in January next year, respectively.

Under the THSRC’s plan, the three new trains are scheduled to be in operation by July next year. The remaining nine trains would be gradually added to the fleet by 2028.

The main dynamic and static testing is scheduled to be completed around April next year, with further document reviews and related procedures expected to take place in May and June, Yang said.