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105-673: Opened in 1976, Chiayi Airport was one of the airports in Taiwan that were severely affected by the opening of the Taiwan High Speed Rail in 2007. Uni Air is the sole operator of scheduled flights to the airport. Although listed as an international airport by the Taiwanese government, the joint use of Chiayi Airport's facilities by the Republic of China Air Force and the lack of complete customs and immigration facilities at

210-508: A German supplier. Track laying began in July 2003. The line was electrified with the 25 kV/60 Hz AC system. The signalling and train control system was laid out for bi-directional operation according to European specifications. Each track section has a checkpoint, and an automatic control system ensures that trains are spaced at least 1 km (0.62 mi) apart to prevent collisions. High-speed rail High-speed rail ( HSR )

315-699: A JR Central design running on both the European and Japanese track systems." Customization was focused on adapting to Taiwan's climate and geography, and the nose shape was optimized for tunnels wider than those in Japan. The maximum service speed of the trains was raised from the 700 Series Shinkansen's 285 to 300 km/h (177 to 186 mph). The 12 cars of a 700T train are grouped in three traction units with three power cars and one trailer each, providing 10.26 MW (13,760 hp) of power; both end cars are trailers to avoid slip on powered bogies . The train

420-581: A Mainland Chinese airport, a charter flight by Spring Airlines to Shanghai Pudong International Airport , in May 2014. Chiayi Airport has an elevation of 85 feet (26 metres). It had two parallel runways , designated 18R/36L (now 18/36) and 18L/36R (currently closed and converted to taxiway). 18/36 measures 3,050 by 45 metres (10,007 by 148 ft) and is made of asphalt , while the shorter 18L/36R concrete runway (closed and now use for taxiing) measured 1,618 by 23 metres (5,308 by 75 ft). Only runway 18/36

525-426: A bid to boost local tourism. Chiayi Airport was subsequently added to the list of airports where direct cross-straits flights between China and Taiwan are allowed in 2013. A series of charter flights between Chiayi and Shizuoka Airport was launched by China Airlines that year, making them the first international flight from Chiayi Airport. This was followed by the launch of the first direct flight between Chiayi and

630-408: A carbody design that would reduce wind resistance at high speeds. A long series of tests was carried. In 1905, St. Louis Car Company built a railcar for the traction magnate Henry E. Huntington , capable of speeds approaching 160 km/h (100 mph). Once it ran 32 km (20 mi) between Los Angeles and Long Beach in 15 minutes, an average speed of 130 km/h (80 mph). However, it

735-467: A design speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), track layout was designed with a minimum curve radius of 6,250 m (20,505 ft), track-centre distance of 4,500 mm (177.2 in), right-of-way width of 18 m (59 ft 1 in), and a maximum gradient of 2.5%, except for 3.5% at one location. All but 3 km (1.9 mi) of track is ballastless , combining slab track of Japanese manufacture on open line sections with switches from

840-468: A discount of about 21% off the full fare of a reserved Standard Seat. Non-registered and registered multi-ride tickets can be purchased at the ticket windows of all THSRC stations. Upon first purchase of a multi-ride ticket, a card deposit fee of NT$ 100 is required (refundable if the card is returned). The registered multi-ride ticket is limited to personal use by the registered cardholder. Since November 2012, an Early Bird discount of 35% has been offered for

945-424: A given time period for a certain number of rides. The card is sold in either registered (name-bearing) or non-registered form. Only adult tickets are available in this format, and cannot be used for rides between Banqiao and Taipei. After purchasing or adding value to a multi-ride card, the card balance is valid for 45 days counted from the day of first use. The ticket is good for 8 rides. The multi-ride card provides

1050-578: A high-speed railway network in Russian gauge . There are no narrow gauge high-speed railways. Countries whose legacy network is entirely or mostly of a different gauge than 1435mm – including Japan and Spain – have however often opted to build their high speed lines to standard gauge instead of the legacy railway gauge. High-speed rail is the fastest and most efficient ground-based method of commercial transportation. However, due to requirements for large track curves, gentle gradients and grade separated track

1155-440: A limited number of tickets sold no later than 8 days before the departure date. If the 35% off tickets sell out before the deadline, tickets with a discount of 20% off are offered. If these tickets sell out before the deadline, tickets with a discount of 10% off are offered. If all early bird tickets are sold out, then full fare tickets are offered. THSRC operates additional train services during national holidays. On 29 June 2011,

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1260-546: A new top speed for a regular service, with a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). This train was a streamlined multi-powered unit, albeit diesel, and used Jakobs bogies . Following the success of the Hamburg line, the steam-powered Henschel-Wegmann Train was developed and introduced in June 1936 for service from Berlin to Dresden , with a regular top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). Incidentally no train service since

1365-407: A primary focus of THSRC's infrastructure design was how to respond to natural disasters such as earthquakes and how to ensure safety for all passengers and trains in any emergency situation. THSRC has established a system to respond to natural disasters and unexpected intrusion onto the right-of-way, called DWS (Disaster Warning Systems). This system consists of a network of sensors installed along

1470-499: A proposal by THSRC to increase the maximum number of train services to 210 per day (compared to the existing 175 per day) passed an environmental impact assessment, increasing the number of possible services on "high-load days". Original estimates predicted a daily ridership of 180,000 after launch, growing to 400,000 by 2036. In view of a 50% drop in airline passengers in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis , forecasts were revised downwards. The final initial ridership estimate

1575-438: A quarter that of buses. In the late 2010s, THSRC began work to purchase additional high speed trains, in light of growing demand. 12 trains would be ordered, at a cost of around NT$ 30 billion. Due to the limited number of Japanese companies who build Shinkansen rolling stock, it took several years for THSRC to agree an acceptable deal. In 2022, it was reported that THSRC was speaking to European train manufacturers instead, as

1680-555: A some other interurban rail cars reached about 145 km/h (90 mph) in commercial traffic. The Red Devils weighed only 22 tons though they could seat 44 passengers. Extensive wind tunnel research – the first in the railway industry – was done before J. G. Brill in 1931 built the Bullet cars for Philadelphia and Western Railroad (P&W). They were capable of running at 148 km/h (92 mph). Some of them were almost 60 years in service. P&W's Norristown High Speed Line

1785-569: A world record for narrow gauge trains at 145 km/h (90 mph), giving the Odakyu engineers confidence they could safely and reliably build even faster trains at standard gauge. Conventional Japanese railways up until that point had largely been built in the 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) Cape gauge , however widening the tracks to standard gauge ( 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in )) would make very high-speed rail much simpler due to improved stability of

1890-466: Is 304 m (997 ft 5 in) long and has a mass of 503  t (554 short tons ) when empty. The trains have a passenger capacity of 989 seats in two classes: 66 seats in 2+2 configuration in the single Business Car and 923 seats in 2+3 configuration in the eleven Standard Cars. The per capita energy consumption of a fully loaded 700T train is 16% of that of private cars and half that of buses; carbon dioxide emissions are 11% of private cars and

1995-476: Is a set of unique features, not merely a train travelling above a particular speed. Many conventionally hauled trains are able to reach 200 km/h (124 mph) in commercial service but are not considered to be high-speed trains. These include the French SNCF Intercités and German DB IC . The criterion of 200 km/h (124 mph) is selected for several reasons; above this speed,

2100-459: Is a type of rail transport network utilizing trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialized rolling stock and dedicated tracks . While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines built to handle speeds above 250 km/h (155 mph) or upgraded lines in excess of 200 km/h (125 mph) are widely considered to be high-speed. The first high-speed rail system,

2205-587: Is equipped with an instrument landing system . The runways and taxiways facilities at Chiayi Airport are shared with Chiayi Air Base . Chiayi Airport has 3 aircraft stands that are capable of accommodating aircraft types such as the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 and ATR 72 . Its 1,717- square metre terminal has a capacity of 222,000 a year, while its 45-square metre cargo facility is able to handle 19,035 tonnes of cargo annually. The airport has limited customs and immigration facilities that allows

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2310-469: Is fitted with 4 wheelchair accessible chairs and a disabled-friendly restroom. Passengers can call THSR's Customer Service Hot Line at (Taiwan) 4066-3000 or visit any THSR station ticket window to reserve these seats. By August 2012, implementation of 4G WiMAX on-board trains is expected to provide smooth wireless broadband services, making THSR the first high-speed ground transportation system equipped with this service. In 2012, THSRC rated highly in

2415-455: Is offered for groups of 11 or more. A group discount cannot be used in combination with other discount offers and does not include non-reserved seats. Passengers eligible for multiple discounts can only choose one discount offer. Since 1 July 2010, a smart card system has provided frequent travelers with multi-ride (eight trips) or periodic tickets. THSR's contact-less smart cards allow the cardholder to travel between specific stations within

2520-539: Is still in use, almost 110 years after P&W in 1907 opened their double-track Upper Darby–Strafford line without a single grade crossing with roads or other railways. The entire line was governed by an absolute block signal system. On 15 May 1933, the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft company introduced the diesel-powered " Fliegender Hamburger " in regular service between Hamburg and Berlin (286 km or 178 mi), thereby achieving

2625-619: The Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad project to reduce the running time between the two big cities to ten hours by using electric 160 km/h (99 mph) locomotives. After seven years of effort, however, less than 50 km (31 mi) of arrow-straight track was finished. A part of the line is still used as one of the last interurbans in the US. In the US, some of the interurbans (i.e. trams or streetcars which run from city to city) of

2730-553: The 0 Series Shinkansen , built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries  – in English often called "Bullet Trains", after the original Japanese name Dangan Ressha ( 弾丸列車 )  – outclassed the earlier fast trains in commercial service. They traversed the 515 km (320 mi) distance in 3 hours 10 minutes, reaching a top speed of 210 km/h (130 mph) and sustaining an average speed of 162.8 km/h (101.2 mph) with stops at Nagoya and Kyoto. Speed

2835-681: The Aérotrain , a French hovercraft monorail train prototype, reached 200 km/h (120 mph) within days of operation. After the successful introduction of the Japanese Shinkansen in 1964, at 210 km/h (130 mph), the German demonstrations up to 200 km/h (120 mph) in 1965, and the proof-of-concept jet-powered Aérotrain , SNCF ran its fastest trains at 160 km/h (99 mph). In 1966, French Infrastructure Minister Edgard Pisani consulted engineers and gave

2940-573: The Double Ten Day holiday, THSRC transported a single-day record of 189,386 passengers. On 5 February 2011, the third day of Chinese New Year ’s celebration, a new record of 190,596 passengers was achieved. The next single-day record was reached on 25 January 2012, also the third day of Chinese New Year's celebration, at 191,989 passengers. The most recent record is 212,000 passengers transported on 1 January 2013. The high-speed trains have successfully out-competed planes: by August 2008, half of

3045-590: The Marienfelde – Zossen line during 1902 and 1903 (see Experimental three-phase railcar ). On 23 October 1903, the S&;H-equipped railcar achieved a speed of 206.7 km/h (128.4 mph) and on 27 October the AEG-equipped railcar achieved 210.2 km/h (130.6 mph). These trains demonstrated the feasibility of electric high-speed rail; however, regularly scheduled electric high-speed rail travel

3150-647: The Morning Hiawatha service, hauled at 160 km/h (99 mph) by steam locomotives. In 1939, the largest railroad of the world, the Pennsylvania Railroad introduced a duplex steam engine Class S1 , which was designed to be capable of hauling 1200 tons passenger trains at 161 km/h (100 mph). The S1 engine was assigned to power the popular all-coach overnight premier train the Trail Blazer between New York and Chicago since

3255-545: The Prussian state railway joined with ten electrical and engineering firms and electrified 72 km (45 mi) of military owned railway between Marienfelde and Zossen . The line used three-phase current at 10 kilovolts and 45 Hz . The Van der Zypen & Charlier company of Deutz, Cologne built two railcars, one fitted with electrical equipment from Siemens-Halske , the second with equipment from Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), that were tested on

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3360-729: The Tōkaidō Shinkansen , began operations in Honshu , Japan, in 1964. Due to the streamlined spitzer -shaped nose cone of the trains , the system also became known by its English nickname bullet train . Japan's example was followed by several European countries, initially in Italy with the Direttissima line, followed shortly thereafter by France , Germany , and Spain . Today, much of Europe has an extensive network with numerous international connections. More recent construction since

3465-532: The United Kingdom , the United States , and Uzbekistan . Only in continental Europe and Asia does high-speed rail cross international borders. High-speed trains mostly operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated rights of way with large radii . However, certain regions with wider legacy railways , including Russia and Uzbekistan, have sought to develop

3570-474: The World Bank , whilst supporting the project, considered the design of the equipment as unproven for that speed, and set the maximum speed to 210 km/h (130 mph). After initial feasibility tests, the plan was fast-tracked and construction of the first section of the line started on 20 April 1959. In 1963, on the new track, test runs hit a top speed of 256 km/h (159 mph). Five years after

3675-573: The 21st century has led to China taking a leading role in high-speed rail. As of 2023 , China's HSR network accounted for over two-thirds of the world's total. In addition to these, many other countries have developed high-speed rail infrastructure to connect major cities, including: Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , Greece , Indonesia , Morocco , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Russia , Saudi Arabia , Serbia , South Korea , Sweden , Switzerland , Taiwan , Turkey ,

3780-635: The Chunghwa High Speed Rail Consortium (CHSRC). THSRC's bid was based on the high-speed technology platform of Eurotrain , a joint venture between GEC-Alsthom , the main maker of the French TGV , and Siemens , the main maker of the German ICE , while CHSRC's bid was based on Japanese Shinkansen technology supplied by Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium (TSC), a joint venture of Japanese companies. THSRC, which submitted

3885-531: The CommonWealth Magazine (天下雜誌) "Golden Service Award survey" (金牌服務大賞), not only far outpacing all rivals in the "long-distance land transport" category, but also taking the top spot in the overall rankings of 300 industries. To improve local public transit connections to THSR stations, the TRA built two new spur lines branching off from West Coast Line . With a few exceptions, the services follow

3990-761: The Executive Yuan in June 1992 and by Taiwan's legislature , the Legislative Yuan , in 1993. In November 1994, Taiwan passed a law regarding the use of private finance in infrastructure projects, which also applied to the up-to-then state-run THSR project. Consequently, in 1995, POHSR was transformed into the Bureau of High Speed Rail (BOHSR), which started to tender THSR as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme in October 1996. The bidding process pitted Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium (THSRC) against

4095-642: The French National Railway started to receive their new powerful CC 7100 electric locomotives, and began to study and evaluate running at higher speeds. In 1954, the CC 7121 hauling a full train achieved a record 243 km/h (151 mph) during a test on standard track. The next year, two specially tuned electric locomotives, the CC 7107 and the prototype BB 9004, broke previous speed records, reaching respectively 320 km/h (200 mph) and 331 km/h (206 mph), again on standard track. For

4200-516: The French National Railways twelve months to raise speeds to 200 km/h (120 mph). The classic line Paris– Toulouse was chosen, and fitted, to support 200 km/h (120 mph) rather than 140 km/h (87 mph). Some improvements were set, notably the signals system, development of on board "in-cab" signalling system, and curve revision. The next year, in May 1967, a regular service at 200 km/h (120 mph)

4305-488: The National Certification before they can drive the train. In addition, after becoming a certified high-speed train driver, they undergo further on-the-job training at least three times each year in order to guarantee they can drive the train safely. Taiwan frequently faces multiple types of natural disasters, including typhoons , earthquakes , heavy rainfall, floods , and landslides . For this reason,

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4410-678: The OCC have been Taiwanese, and since October 2008, all train drivers have been Taiwanese. The OCC's main responsibility is to maintain safe train operations. THSRC has 132 controllers (July 2012), of which about one quarter are female, working 24 hours per day and 365 days per year in the OCC. Requirements for becoming a Chief Controller (主任控制員) include experience in all nine OCC positions, 300-hours of on-the-job training and acquiring qualification. THSRC has 144 drivers (July 2012), of which almost 10% are female. All driver candidates must spend 8 months completing 1,326 hours of professional training and pass

4515-764: The Outstanding Civil Engineering Project Award by the Asian Civil Engineering Coordination Council (ACECC) in Sydney in 2010. In 2011, the Public Construction Commission (公共工程委員會) organized an on-line voting campaign that garnered over 330,000 votes, to select the 100 best infrastructure projects (百大建設) in Taiwan to celebrate the centennial of the Republic ; Taiwan High Speed Rail topped the list. Reflecting

4620-534: The Richter Scale with an epicenter 17 km (11 mi) from Jiaxian, Kaohsiung that shook southern Taiwan on 4 March 2010 (甲仙地震). One operating train was slightly derailed in Sinshih, Tainan , and six trains were stopped on the track. In spite of the temporary suspension of operations, there was no damage or casualties. All 2,500 affected passengers were evacuated in two hours without injury. Service resumed

4725-606: The US, 160 km/h (99 mph) in Germany and 125 mph (201 km/h) in Britain. Above those speeds positive train control or the European Train Control System becomes necessary or legally mandatory. National domestic standards may vary from the international ones. Railways were the first form of rapid land transportation and had an effective monopoly on long-distance passenger traffic until

4830-592: The air routes between Taipei and the country's western cities had been discontinued, including all connections between cities with THSR stations except for a single daily connection between Taipei and Kaohsiung. Total domestic air traffic was expected to be halved from 2006 to 2008, and actually fell from 8.6 to 4.9 million. In June 2012, officials announced the discontinuation of the last remaining commercial flight between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The share for conventional rail between Taipei and Kaohsiung fell from 9.71% in 2006 to 2.5% in 2008, while high-speed rail became

4935-449: The airport restricts the use of the airport by international flights. As such, the airport has no scheduled international flights; it is only served internationally by occasional chartered flights. A departure lounge was completed on the grounds of Chiayi Air Base on 19 May 1976, marking the start of operations at Chiayi Airport. China Airlines launched the inaugural flight, providing trice-weekly flights between Taipei and Chiayi. Due to

5040-463: The airport to handle international flights. [REDACTED] Media related to Chiayi Airport at Wikimedia Commons Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail ( THSR ) is the high-speed railway network in Taiwan , which consists of a single line that runs approximately 350 km (217 mi) along the western coast of the island, from the capital Taipei in the north to

5145-847: The amount of water pumped from deep wells by 210,000,000 tonnes (2.1 × 10  kg) by 2021. According to THSR's July 2018 timetable, there are 989 train services per week of operation, with operation times between 05:50 to 24:00 every day. Most southbound trains originate from Nangang station and most northbound trains originate from Zuoying ; however, a few trains operate just between Nangang and Taichung or between Taichung and Zuoying. Southbound trains are designated by odd train numbers, and northbound trains by even train numbers. Each train consists of 1 business car (car 6) and 11 standard cars (including reserved seats and non-reserved seats). Since July 2010, non-reserved seats are available in cars 10 through 12 (some trains available in cars 9 through 12 or available in cars 8 through 12 ). Car 7 of each train

5250-524: The beginning of the construction work, in October 1964, just in time for the Olympic Games , the first modern high-speed rail, the Tōkaidō Shinkansen , was opened between the two cities; a 510 km (320 mi) line between Tokyo and Ōsaka. As a result of its speeds, the Shinkansen earned international publicity and praise, and it was dubbed the "bullet train." The first Shinkansen trains,

5355-642: The below pattern. As of January 2018, a one-way Taipei–Zuoying trip, a THSR standard car adult ticket is NT$ 1490, and a business car ticket fare is NT$ 1950. The cost of a non-reserved seat is approximately 3% less than the regular price. Business and standard car reserved ticket reservations are available 28 days prior to the date of departure (including the departure day). Senior citizens (Taiwan citizens above 65 years of age), registered disabled persons plus one accompanying passenger (Taiwan citizens only), and children (passengers under 12 years of age) are eligible for concession (half price) tickets. A group discount

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5460-768: The bid, in February 2001 it filed for a US$ 800 million damage claim against THSRC at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre . After a lengthy arbitration process, the court ruled in March 2004 that THSRC should pay a compensation for the US$ 32.4 million Eurotrain spent on development and US$ 35.7 million for unjust enrichment. THSRC agreed to pay US$ 65 million (US$ 89 million with interest) to Eurotrain in November 2004. Construction of

5565-443: The cancelation of this express train in 1939 has traveled between the two cities in a faster time as of 2018 . In August 2019, the travel time between Dresden-Neustadt and Berlin-Südkreuz was 102 minutes. See Berlin–Dresden railway . Further development allowed the usage of these "Fliegenden Züge" (flying trains) on a rail network across Germany. The "Diesel-Schnelltriebwagen-Netz" (diesel high-speed-vehicle network) had been in

5670-487: The company so it could remain operational and profitable. The government injected NT$ 30 billion as a financial bailout, boosting the government's stake to about 64% from about 37%. The government also extended the rail concession from 35 years to 70 years and terminated the company's build-operate-transfer business model. Taiwan's rapid economic growth during the latter half of the twentieth century led to congestion of highways, conventional rail, and air traffic systems in

5775-562: The construction of high-speed rail is more costly than conventional rail and therefore does not always present an economical advantage over conventional speed rail. Multiple definitions for high-speed rail are in use worldwide. The European Union Directive 96/48/EC, Annex 1 (see also Trans-European high-speed rail network ) defines high-speed rail in terms of: The International Union of Railways (UIC) identifies three categories of high-speed rail: A third definition of high-speed and very high-speed rail requires simultaneous fulfilment of

5880-464: The curve radius should be quadrupled; the same was true for the acceleration and braking distances. In 1891 engineer Károly Zipernowsky proposed a high-speed line from Vienna to Budapest for electric railcars at 250 km/h (160 mph). In 1893 Wellington Adams proposed an air-line from Chicago to St. Louis of 252 miles (406 km), at a speed of only 160 km/h (99 mph). Alexander C. Miller had greater ambitions. In 1906, he launched

5985-516: The depot. THSRC also uses a former 0 Series Shinkansen end car as a structure gauge test car . As the first high speed railway system in Taiwan, THSRC started operation in 2007 with many foreign employees, including French and German train drivers and operation controllers in the Operation Control Center (OCC). At the same time, THSRC also started to train local drivers and controllers. Since May 2008, all controllers working in

6090-603: The deputy director Marcel Tessier at the DETE ( SNCF Electric traction study department). JNR engineers returned to Japan with a number of ideas and technologies they would use on their future trains, including alternating current for rail traction, and international standard gauge. In 1957, the engineers at the private Odakyu Electric Railway in Greater Tokyo Area launched the Odakyu 3000 series SE EMU. This EMU set

6195-508: The development of the motor car and airliners in the early-mid 20th century. Speed had always been an important factor for railroads and they constantly tried to achieve higher speeds and decrease journey times. Rail transportation in the late 19th century was not much slower than non-high-speed trains today, and many railroads regularly operated relatively fast express trains which averaged speeds of around 100 km/h (62 mph). High-speed rail development began in Germany in 1899 when

6300-595: The early 20th century were very high-speed for their time (also Europe had and still does have some interurbans). Several high-speed rail technologies have their origin in the interurban field. In 1903 – 30 years before the conventional railways started to streamline their trains – the officials of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition organised the Electric Railway Test Commission to conduct a series of tests to develop

6405-438: The first time, 300 km/h (185 mph) was surpassed, allowing the idea of higher-speed services to be developed and further engineering studies commenced. Especially, during the 1955 records, a dangerous hunting oscillation , the swaying of the bogies which leads to dynamic instability and potential derailment was discovered. This problem was solved by yaw dampers which enabled safe running at high speeds today. Research

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6510-575: The following two conditions: The UIC prefers to use "definitions" (plural) because they consider that there is no single standard definition of high-speed rail, nor even standard usage of the terms ("high speed", or "very high speed"). They make use of the European EC Directive 96/48, stating that high speed is a combination of all the elements which constitute the system: infrastructure, rolling stock and operating conditions. The International Union of Railways states that high-speed rail

6615-482: The forecast of 240,000 daily passengers for 2008. The system carried its first 100 million passengers by August 2010 and over 200 million passengers had taken the system by December 2012, followed by 400 million by December 2016. THSR, or railways in general, is only located on the main island of Taiwan. Outer islands under the control of the ROC government including Penghu , Kinmen , and Matsu do not have railways. In

6720-575: The government of Japan promised soft loans if THSRC switched to TSC. Although Eurotrain promised to match TSC's financial proposal, the Eschede train disaster in combination with TSC offering the newer 700 Series Shinkansen , convinced THSRC to reopen its core system bid, ultimately resulting in TSC selected as the preferred rolling-stock supplier in December 1999. Although Eurotrain eventually conceded in

6825-445: The growth in passenger numbers at the airport, a terminal building was built in 1977 and opened on 1 January 1978. In 1990, Great China Air took over China Airlines' route at Chiayi Airport. At the same time, it also launched flights to Kinmen Airport and Penghu Airport. TransAsia Airways , Far Eastern Air Transport and Formosa Airlines all launched flights at Chiayi Airport between 1994 and 1996. Meanwhile, Chiayi Airport's terminal

6930-414: The impacts of geometric defects are intensified, track adhesion is decreased, aerodynamic resistance is greatly increased, pressure fluctuations within tunnels cause passenger discomfort, and it becomes difficult for drivers to identify trackside signalling. Standard signaling equipment is often limited to speeds below 200 km/h (124 mph), with the traditional limits of 127 km/h (79 mph) in

7035-461: The initial ones despite greater speeds). After decades of research and successful testing on a 43 km (27 mi) test track, in 2014 JR Central began constructing a Maglev Shinkansen line, which is known as the Chūō Shinkansen . These Maglev trains still have the traditional underlying tracks and the cars have wheels. This serves a practical purpose at stations and a safety purpose out on

7140-408: The initial years of operation, THSRC accumulated high debts due to high depreciation charges and interest, largely due to the financial structure set up for the private company. In 2009, THSRC negotiated with the government to change the method of depreciation from depending on concessions on rights to ridership. At the same time, the government also started to help refinance THSRC's loans to assist

7245-542: The late 1940s and it consistently reached 161 km/h (100 mph) in its service life. These were the last "high-speed" trains to use steam power. In 1936, the Twin Cities Zephyr entered service, from Chicago to Minneapolis, with an average speed of 101 km/h (63 mph). Many of these streamliners posted travel times comparable to or even better than their modern Amtrak successors, which are limited to 127 km/h (79 mph) top speed on most of

7350-474: The latter include the JNR Class DD14 and JNR Class DD16 diesel-hydraulic locomotives, which were originally used for snowploughing by JR. The two ex-JR locomotives with THSRC are equipped with Shinkansen-style rotary couplers and standard-gauge bogies instead of the original 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) gauge bogies and knuckle couplers and are used for shunting the 700T trainsets within

7455-585: The line by THSRC officially started in March 1999. Tunnels and other major civil engineering works were completed by 2004, along with the first delivery of the 700T trains. Testing and commissioning of the line then took place in 2005 and 2006, with a maximum testing speed of 315 kilometres per hour (196 mph) achieved in October 2005. The railway was opened in 2007, with limited commercial services between Banqiao and Zuoying stations from January 5, with full service from Taipei Station to Kaohsiung from May 2007. Three additional stations located along

7560-441: The line lie outside the cities served; however, a variety of transfer options, such as free shuttle buses, conventional rail, and metros have been constructed to facilitate transport connections. Ridership initially fell short of forecasts, but grew from fewer than 40,000 passengers per day in the first few months of operation to over 129,000 passengers per day in June 2013. Daily passenger traffic reached 130,000 in 2014, well below

7665-499: The line – Miaoli , Changhua and Yunlin – opened in 2015. On 10 September 2019, the Executive Yuan announced that the railway would be expanded to Pingtung . Out of four proposed route options, it was confirmed on 27 September that the expansion would bypass central Kaohsiung, branching from Zuoying east towards western Pingtung City , near Liukuaicuo , with an estimated cost of NT$ 55.4 billion. Although lowest in cost,

7770-432: The lines in the event of a power failure. However, in normal operation, the wheels are raised up into the car as the train reaches certain speeds where the magnetic levitation effect takes over. It will link Tokyo and Osaka by 2037, with the section from Tokyo to Nagoya expected to be operational by 2027. Maximum speed is anticipated at 505 km/h (314 mph). The first generation train can be ridden by tourists visiting

7875-641: The lower bid and promised to build the line with zero net cost from the government, was chosen as the preferred bidder in September 1997. The group was renamed and formally established as the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) in May 1998. THSRC and the government signed the BOT agreement on 23 July 1998. However, controversy arose during rolling-stock selection. In May 1999, as THSRC faced difficulties in raising capital,

7980-471: The most common mode of transport at 50% of all trips by 2008. The opening of THSR led to a 10% reduction of traffic on the parallel expressway in 2007. Despite cheaper ticket prices, long-distance bus companies reported that passenger volumes had fallen by 20 to 30 percent by 2008. Construction of the system took more than 2,000 professional engineers from 20 countries and over 20,000 foreign and domestic workers six years to complete. Construction work

8085-505: The network. The German high-speed service was followed in Italy in 1938 with an electric-multiple-unit ETR 200 , designed for 200 km/h (120 mph), between Bologna and Naples. It too reached 160 km/h (99 mph) in commercial service, and achieved a world mean speed record of 203 km/h (126 mph) between Florence and Milan in 1938. In Great Britain in the same year, the streamlined steam locomotive Mallard achieved

8190-470: The next day. Such a record was well noted, and provided valuable experience in operational safety to the global railway industry. In April 2010, it was reported that subsidence had been observed during construction on a 6 km (3.7 mi) viaduct section in Yunlin County . The subsidence continued, reaching up to 55 cm (22 in) over seven years. By 2010 subsidence had slowed, which

8295-469: The official world speed record for steam locomotives at 202.58 km/h (125.88 mph). The external combustion engines and boilers on steam locomotives were large, heavy and time and labor-intensive to maintain, and the days of steam for high speed were numbered. In 1945, a Spanish engineer, Alejandro Goicoechea , developed a streamlined, articulated train that was able to run on existing tracks at higher speeds than contemporary passenger trains. This

8400-624: The option was met with criticism regarding its economic benefits. The extension to Pingtung was approved by Premier Su Tseng-chang in January 2023, with opening of the extension planned for 2029. The line was extended 9.2 km (5.7 mi) from Taipei to Nangang , opening in July 2016. On 25 October 2019, the Railway Bureau published an assessment report to extend the line further from Taipei to Yilan , cutting travel time to 13 minutes. The 56.4 km (35.0 mi) extension

8505-608: The planning since 1934 but it never reached its envisaged size. All high-speed service stopped in August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of World War II . On 26 May 1934, one year after Fliegender Hamburger introduction, the Burlington Railroad set an average speed record on long distance with their new streamlined train, the Zephyr , at 124 km/h (77 mph) with peaks at 185 km/h (115 mph). The Zephyr

8610-540: The price offered by Japanese companies was "unreasonable". In March 2023, it was announced that a joint bid by Hitachi and Toshiba had been awarded the contract. Twelve of the latest generation of Shinkansen train—the N700S Series —would be delivered at a cost of NT$ 28 billion. THSRC uses overhead line inspection trains from Windhoff , Harsco railgrinders , Plasser & Theurer track tampers , and several ex- JR rolling stock to maintain its line. Among

8715-601: The rail route to detect unexpected situations such as earthquakes, strong winds, heavy rainfall, floods, landslides, and intrusions. In case of an unexpected situation, the DWS will send signals to the OCC (Operation Control Center) immediately; it will also activate contingency measures to ensure the safety of the passengers and trains, including decelerating or stopping trains in the affected area. The DWS has functioned successfully since its initial operation in 2007. The most powerful earthquake that THSRC has experienced measured 6.4 on

8820-581: The southern city of Kaohsiung . With construction and operations managed by a private company, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), which also operates the line, the total cost of the project was NT$ 513.3 billion in 1998. The system's technology is based primarily on Japan's Shinkansen . The railway opened for service on 5 January 2007, with trains running at a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), currently running from Nangang to Zuoying in as little as 1 hour and 45 minutes, reaching almost 90% of Taiwan's population. Most intermediate stations on

8925-535: The test track. China is developing two separate high-speed maglev systems. In Europe, high-speed rail began during the International Transport Fair in Munich in June 1965, when Dr Öpfering, the director of Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railways), performed 347 demonstrations at 200 km/h (120 mph) between Munich and Augsburg by DB Class 103 hauled trains. The same year

9030-456: The western transport corridor, which threatened to impede the region's development. The idea of a new high-speed rail line arose in the 1970s, and informal planning began in 1980. In 1987, the executive branch of Taiwan's government, the Executive Yuan , instructed the Ministry of Transportation to launch a feasibility study for a high-speed rail line in the western Taiwan corridor, which

9135-540: The wider rail gauge, and thus standard gauge was adopted for high-speed service. With the sole exceptions of Russia, Finland, and Uzbekistan all high-speed rail lines in the world are still standard gauge, even in countries where the preferred gauge for legacy lines is different. The new service, named Shinkansen (meaning new main line ) would provide a new alignment, 25% wider standard gauge utilising continuously welded rails between Tokyo and Osaka with new rolling stock, designed for 250 km/h (160 mph). However,

9240-629: The world's population, without a single train passenger fatality. (Suicides, passengers falling off the platforms, and industrial accidents have resulted in fatalities.) Since their introduction, Japan's Shinkansen systems have been undergoing constant improvement, not only increasing line speeds. Over a dozen train models have been produced, addressing diverse issues such as tunnel boom noise, vibration, aerodynamic drag , lines with lower patronage ("Mini shinkansen"), earthquake and typhoon safety, braking distance , problems due to snow, and energy consumption (newer trains are twice as energy-efficient as

9345-476: Was 140,000 passengers per day. Actual initial ridership did not match these projections. In September 2007, six months after opening, THSRC carried 1.5 million passengers monthly, translating to about 50,000 passengers daily. In the second year, passenger numbers almost doubled. In the third year, average daily ridership continued to grow to 88,000 passengers per day, jumping to over 120,000 passengers per day in 2012. (updated to September 2012) Seat occupancy

9450-470: Was achieved by providing the locomotive and cars with a unique axle system that used one axle set per car end, connected by a Y-bar coupler. Amongst other advantages, the centre of mass was only half as high as usual. This system became famous under the name of Talgo ( Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol ), and for half a century was the main Spanish provider of high-speed trains. In the early 1950s,

9555-530: Was also made about "current harnessing" at high-speed by the pantographs, which was solved 20 years later by the Zébulon TGV 's prototype. With some 45 million people living in the densely populated Tokyo– Osaka corridor, congestion on road and rail became a serious problem after World War II , and the Japanese government began thinking about ways to transport people in and between cities. Because Japan

9660-537: Was approved in October 2020, and is planned to open by 2030. Taiwan High Speed Rail started operation with 30 THSR 700T trainsets supplied by a consortium led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries . In response to increasing ridership and new stations that would begin operation in 2015, THSRC signed the contract for four new 700T trainsets with the Kawasaki consortium in May 2012 in Tokyo, Japan. The first (TR 31) trainset

9765-406: Was around 45% in the first three years, with a modest improvement achieved in 2009, and reached 53.91% in 2012. (updated to September 2012) Punctuality is stable above 99%. The 10-millionth passenger was carried after 265 days of operation on 26 September 2007, while the 100-millionth passenger was carried after 1,307 days on 3 August 2010, and 200-millionth by December 2012. On 10 October 2011,

9870-508: Was ascribed to the closure of some deep groundwater wells operating in the region. Although the situation was deemed safe with differential settlement between adjacent piers along the viaduct at only a sixth of the permissible level, the BOHSR urged the closure of more wells. On 25 July 2011, the government announced plans to close almost 1,000 wells in Changhua and Yunlin counties, reducing

9975-405: Was broken into several specialized lots that were contracted separately. One group of contracts was for civil works, covering the construction of the superstructure of open line sections. Stations and depots were the subject of separate groups of construction contracts. A fourth group of contracts was for track work. The Taiwan North-South High Speed Rail Project was awarded the first prize for

10080-530: Was completed in 1990. The study found that in a comparison of potential solutions to traffic problems in the corridor, a high-speed rail line would offer the highest transit volume, lowest land use, highest energy savings, and least pollution. In July 1990 the Preparation Office of High Speed Rail (POHSR) was established and a route was selected in 1991. Plans for the THSR were subsequently approved by

10185-408: Was delivered to Taiwan on 23 December 2012; the second (TR 32) on 21 January 2013; the third (TR33) on 25 January 2014; the fourth (TR34) on 12 August 2015. The THSR 700T trainset is based on the 700 Series Shinkansen trainset used by JR Central and JR West in Japan. This marked the first time Shinkansen technology was exported to a foreign country, and it involved "rolling stock derived from

10290-427: Was expanded and refurbished in 1995 to handle the increased number of passengers using the airport. In 1995, the airport served over a million passengers for the first time. The airport was reclassified as a B-class airport in 1996. However, in 1999, the number of services to Chiayi Airport decreased when Formosa Airlines withdrew from its operations at Chiayi Airport in the aftermath of an air crash over Hsinchu . This

10395-403: Was extended a further 161 km (100 mi), and further construction has resulted in the network expanding to 2,951 km (1,834 mi) of high speed lines as of 2024, with a further 211 km (131 mi) of extensions currently under construction and due to open in 2031. The cumulative patronage on the entire system since 1964 is over 10 billion, the equivalent of approximately 140% of

10500-655: Was followed by the successive withdrawals of Far Eastern Air Transport and TransAsia Airways in 2001 and 2002 respectively due to poor load factors caused by a slowing local economy. These withdraws left Uni Air, the successor of Great China Air, as the only operator of flights at Chiayi Airport. With the launch of the Taiwan High Speed Rail in 2007, which links Chiayi to Taipei, demand for flights between Taipei and Chiayi declined significantly. This forced Uni Air to cancel its twice-daily flights between Taipei and Chiayi in August 2015. The Taiwanese Government gave Chiayi Airport an "International Airport" status in December 2012 in

10605-543: Was made of stainless steel and, like the Fliegender Hamburger, was diesel powered, articulated with Jacobs bogies , and could reach 160 km/h (99 mph) as commercial speed. The new service was inaugurated 11 November 1934, traveling between Kansas City and Lincoln , but at a lower speed than the record, on average speed 74 km/h (46 mph). In 1935, the Milwaukee Road introduced

10710-407: Was not only a part of the Shinkansen revolution: the Shinkansen offered high-speed rail travel to the masses. The first Bullet trains had 12 cars and later versions had up to 16, and double-deck trains further increased the capacity. After three years, more than 100 million passengers had used the trains, and the milestone of the first one billion passengers was reached in 1976. In 1972, the line

10815-525: Was resource limited and did not want to import petroleum for security reasons, energy-efficient high-speed rail was an attractive potential solution. Japanese National Railways (JNR) engineers began to study the development of a high-speed regular mass transit service. In 1955, they were present at the Lille 's Electrotechnology Congress in France, and during a 6-month visit, the head engineer of JNR accompanied

10920-402: Was still more than 30 years away. After the breakthrough of electric railroads, it was clearly the infrastructure – especially the cost of it – which hampered the introduction of high-speed rail. Several disasters happened – derailments, head-on collisions on single-track lines, collisions with road traffic at grade crossings, etc. The physical laws were well-known, i.e. if the speed was doubled,

11025-477: Was too heavy for much of the tracks, so Cincinnati Car Company , J. G. Brill and others pioneered lightweight constructions, use of aluminium alloys, and low-level bogies which could operate smoothly at extremely high speeds on rough interurban tracks. Westinghouse and General Electric designed motors compact enough to be mounted on the bogies. From 1930 on, the Red Devils from Cincinnati Car Company and

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