The Taiwanese high speed rail project

Introduction

To the right is a map of where the planned high speed line is to be built, from Taipei to Kaohsiung. Operation is planned to commence in 2000

Why does Taiwan want high speed rail?

Taiwan suffers from major traffic congestion problems. The 4 hour drive along the Islands motorway between Taipei and Kaohsiung can take up to 12 hours in heavy traffic. The Airports already work at capacity, with planes landing and taking off every two minutes. Existing express trains are not fast (120km/h or 75mph) and they are limited in numbers. With projections of the number of journeys increasing unless something is done, things will only get worse. The solution is high speed rail.

The Line

The line will be built right along the Island for the 345 km distance between Taipei to Kaohsiung. The line will be built for speeds of 350km/h (220mph), although trains will operate in the region of 250km/h to 300km/h (156mph to 186mph). The projected journey time to travel across the routes length from Taipei to Kaohsiung will be 90minutes.

The Trains

High capacity trains will be used, with capacities per train set ranging from 800 to 1,400 (double decker trains). Like other high speed lines the capacity will be one train every 3 minutes in each direction. The company who will build the trains is still under negociation.

Economics

The total cost of the high speed rail project is estimated at US$ 17 billion. Ticket prices will be about 70% to 80% of the price of an airline ticket. It is projected that initially the rail link will capture 11% of the market, meaning about 250,000 trips by train each day, this is thought to increase to 15%, with about one third being business trips.