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Taiwan High Speed Rail

Taiwan High Speed Rail
THSR.svg
Overview
Type High-speed rail
Locale Taiwan
Termini Nangang
Zuoying
Stations 12
Ridership 50,561,954 (2015)
Website thsrc.com.tw
Operation
Opened 5 January 2007
Operator(s) Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation
Depot(s) Wuri, Zuoying
Rolling stock THSR 700T
Technical
Line length 345 km (214 mi) on mileage, 348.5 km (217 mi) in operation actually
Number of tracks 2
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Minimum radius 6,250 m (20,505 ft)
Electrification 25 kV/60 Hz AC Catenary
Operating speed 300 km/h (186 mph) max
Route map
THSR route map
Taiwan High Speed Rail
Traditional Chinese 台灣高速鐵路 or
臺灣高速鐵路
THSR
Traditional Chinese 台灣高鐵 or 臺灣高鐵

Taiwan High Speed Rail (abbreviated THSR or HSR) is a high-speed rail line that runs approximately 349.5 km (217 mi), along the west coast of Taiwan, from the national capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction managed by a private company, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC), which also operates the line, the total cost of the project was US$18 billion. At the time it was built, this was one of the world's largest privately funded rail construction schemes. The system is based primarily on Japan's Shinkansen technology.

The line opened for service on 5 January 2007, with trains running at a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) from Nangang to Zuoying in as little as 105 minutes, reaching almost 90% of Taiwan's population. Most intermediate stations on 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. The system carried its first 100 million passengers by August 2010 and over 200 million passengers had taken this system by December 2012., followed by 400 million by December 2016.

In the initial years of operation, THSRC accumulated debt 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 the company so it could remain operational and profitable.

Taiwan's rapid economic growth during the latter half of the twentieth century led to saturation of highways, conventional rail, and air traffic systems in the western transport corridor, which threatened to impede further growth. 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 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 the Executive Yuan in June 1992 and by Taiwan's legislature, the Legislative Yuan, in 1993.


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