No seats left on Puyuma trains to Taitung in early July; TRA: no plans to add more services

▲ No seats available on Puyuma trains until early July; TRA has no plans to add more services. (Photo / taken fromHuang JianTingFacebook)

Reported by Xiao Wanning / Compiled by staff

The electrification of the railway line in eastern Taiwan (Hualien and Taitung) went into operation today, with the Puyuma train as the main service type. Travel time from Taipei to Taitung is now as fast as 3.5 hours and as slow as 4 hours and 5 minutes, a difference of 35 minutes. For the trial operation period in early July, currently only a few scattered seats remain for Puyuma trains between Hualien and Taitung, while those between Taipei and Taitung are fully booked. The TRA stated that although most tickets for early July have been sold out,there are currently no plans to add more services. Therefore, passengers wishing to take the Puyuma train to Taitung in early July may need to wait for others to cancel their tickets or consider alternative travel options..

The Taiwan Railways Administration’s newly purchased 17 sets (136 cars) of Puyuma trains will all be put into service on the eastern railway line starting July 16. The Puyuma can reach speeds of up to 130 km/h, making the trip from Taipei to Taitung one hour faster than the current diesel Tzu-Chiang trains and more than two hours faster than other limited express trains. However, the TRA said that the 3.5-hour travel time for the Puyuma from Taipei to Taitung is for non-stop services, with only three stops: Songshan, Hualien, and Yuli.

There are three types of Puyuma train schedules for the Taipei to Taitung route with travel times of 3 hours 46 minutes, 3 hours 55 minutes, and 4 hours 5 minutes, varying due to the number of stops. The TRA said that from July 1 to 15 during the trial operation of the electrified railway in eastern Taiwan, there will be a total of four round-trip services per day between Taipei and Taitung. Starting July 16 with official operations, there will be 20 round-trip services per day on weekdays between Taipei and Taitung, of which 12 will be Puyuma trains, increasing to 18 on holidays.

According to TRA statistics, after the official operation of the electrified railway in eastern Taiwan, transport capacity for the Taipei to Hualien route will increase significantly, estimated to rise by 23% to 25%. Even with the withdrawal of some Fu-Hsing and diesel Tzu-Chiang trains, capacity for limited express trains will still increase by 22% to 24%. As for the capacity of Tzu-Chiang trains between Taipei and Taitung on holidays, it can be as high as 40%, and including some retained Fu-Hsing and diesel Tzu-Chiang trains, overall capacity will also increase by 8% to 13%.