Taiwan's hi-speed rail has hurt domestic air traffic

Business News

Oct 1, 2007, 7:03 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's high-speed railway has dealt a heavy blow to the island's domestic air traffic, reducing the number of air passengers by 22 per cent, the Transport Ministry said on Monday. According to the ministry's report delivered to the parliament, since the high-speed train began running on January 5, more and more people are taking the high-speed train, rather than flying, between north and south Taiwan. As a result, in the first half of 2007, the number of domestic flights and passengers have dropped 13 and 22 per cent respectively year-on-year. The ministry is helping domestic airlines work out survival plans by combining routes and launching package tours, the report said. Taiwan launched the 345-kilometre high-speed rail, linking Taipei and Kaohsiung, on January 5. The rail, built with Japanese technology, has cut travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung - five hours on a slow train - by half. The high-speed rail operates 45 round-trip runs each day, carrying about 50,000 passengers daily. The high-speed rail has transported 10 million passengers since its launch on January 5. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Taiwan's hi-speed rail has hurt domestic air traffic

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