During the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday that just ended this Monday, as the number of passengers taking the high-speed train reached a record high, not only the free-seat carriages were overcrowded, but also the reserved seats and business cars were filled with passengers holding free-seat tickets, which caused great criticism. Many people suggested whether to put the newly introduced high-speed train N700ST online in advance, but the Railway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport rejected the vote, pointing out that it is still under testing and will not be completed until at least late April next year.
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation purchased 12 sets of new-generation trains N700ST from Japan. On August 15 this year, the first set of trains numbered "TS01" arrived at Kaohsiung Port and entered the High Speed Rail Yanchao Main Station for static testing. The Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation said it is expected to be officially launched on July 1 next year.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the high-speed rail company put all 34 700T trains currently in service into operation, and they were still crowded with passengers. From the day before the consecutive holidays (September 24) to the day after the consecutive holidays (September 29), there were a total of 6 days of transportation. The number of high-speed rail passengers reached 1.788815, an average of more than 298,000 passengers per day. On September 24, the high-speed rail transportation volume was as high as 348,000 passengers, breaking the record of 338,000 passengers during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in 2023.
Before July 1 next year, there will be several major consecutive holidays, including the Spring Festival holiday, the Tomb-Sweeping Festival holiday, and the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. There will inevitably be an influx of people returning home and traveling. Can new trains be put into operation in advance? Railway Director Yang Zhengjun said that the first set of trains has completed relevant assembly and is undergoing static testing, and there will be dynamic testing to be done in the future.
Yang Zhengjun said that there are 69 related tests and established program requirements to be completed before going online. According to the current schedule, the dynamic and static test operations will be completed around late April next year.
He pointed out that just completing these test operations is not enough to go online. After that, some documents from relevant verification units, as well as review and follow-up actions will be required. After the test is completed in late April next year, the review of relevant documents will be carried out in May and June.
The first train of the new generation of high-speed rail (TS01) arrived in Taiwan in mid-August this year, and the second and third trains (TS02 and TS03) are expected to arrive in Taiwan in November this year and January next year respectively. After complete testing and approval by the Ministry of Transport, the first three sets of trains are expected to be put into operation at the same time in July next year, and the remaining nine sets of trains are expected to be added gradually before the end of 2028.
The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation has stated that after all 12 sets of purchased new-generation trains go online, the maximum capacity can be increased by 25% during peak operating hours. Based on this calculation, three new sets of trains can increase peak capacity by approximately 6% to 7%.
