Taiwan Railway's "two-rail trains" will set up bicycle priority areas and formulate unified identification marking standards

For a long time, the Taiwan Railway's "two-rail train" service for passengers and vehicles has lacked clear parking regulations, which often leads to conflicts among passengers and even becomes social news. Kuomintang Legislator Huang Jianhao said today that he has raised a special inquiry and received a commitment from the Taiwan Railway Corporation to designate bicycle priority areas for models without racks and to formulate unified parking and identification marking standards to comprehensively improve the convenience and safety of passengers when riding.

Huang Jianhao pointed out that the current Taiwan Railway "Two Railways Trains" allow passengers to bring undisassembled bicycles on designated trains and must purchase special bicycle tickets. However, some older shuttle buses are not equipped with bicycle racks or dedicated parking spaces. In the past, passengers were only required to "not interfere with other passengers," but no clear placement locations were marked. As a result, passengers often experienced friction due to spatial circulation issues after boarding the bus, which was tantamount to transferring the space management responsibility of the operating unit to passengers.

Huang Jianhao said that in his inquiry, he asked the Ministry of Transportation to learn from the designated parking areas of international railways (such as France SNCF, Austria ÖBB, and Germany DB) to comprehensively take inventory and study the designation of "cycling areas", and has received a positive response from the Taiwan Railway Corporation.

First, short-term model and ticket sales guidance: In the short term, the number of bicycle tickets sold will be adjusted according to the vehicle type used, and passengers will be guided to give priority to EMU800 and EMU900 regional trains equipped with bicycle racks.

Second, plan to set up bicycle priority areas: For models without bicycle parking spaces, plan to set up bicycle priority areas at the front of the first vehicle and the rear of the last vehicle to reduce the impact on main traffic and passenger boarding and alighting; and evaluate whether to remove existing seats to expand space based on actual use needs.

Third, formulate unified identification standards: Taiwan Railway will formulate unified regulations for bicycle parking and identification markings on trains between the two railways, and incorporate them into the basic design standards for subsequent vehicle modifications and new vehicle purchases.

Huang Jianhao said that he was pleased to see the Taiwan Railway Corporation actively adopt the opinions and promote the designation of exclusive areas and unified identification signs. In the future, it will continue to track the progress of the Taiwan Railway's subsequent carriage space renovation and the implementation status of the signs, so as to create a friendlier and safer riding environment for the majority of bicycle commuters and tourist groups.