What a great video. This is the project that changed my life. The company i worked for transferred me to taiwan to be part of the construction. This has been one of the most memorable projects in my 30-year career. Never left taiwan in the end, as I love this home now.
As foreigner resident in Taiwan i can confirm that this high speed rail is one of the most sucessful and life-changing projects in the country. It is just perfect - reliable, convinient, modern (still), client-oriented, easy connection to other public transport system, reasonable pricing. No noise inside, no shaking. And guys, with this orange livery the trains are so cool. Really, this rail is one of the great blessings i experience in this country.
This train was a huge task to build in Taiwan. I was visiting Taiwan frequently at the end of construction and during the early days of operations. The media there was always talking about the difficulties of the project and how the project lost lots of money initially. Of course today its very successful project, despite those initial challenges. Despite the challenging terrain and soil conditions in many areas, the major cities in Taiwan are perfect distance apart from each other for a successful high speed rail system. I totally recommend anyone visiting Taiwan to try the high speed rail, its a great way to see the country.
I lived in Taipei for a few months and traveled around the island with the high speed train. The public transport in Taiwanese cities (incl. bike sharing and metro lines) and around the island is truly excellent!
??? They have only one high speed rail line running along the west coast . From Taipei in the north to Koashing in the south. Small country. Don't need more than this line.
from initially planned 15 billion costs "escalated" to 18 billion. I had to chuckle when this was said, 20% cost overrun isn't exactly an escalation of costs, its actually pretty standard in large infrastructure projects lmao
@@EdgyNumber1 Aight we are going to build a state of art high speed train between London and Glasgow for only 48 billion pounds. Sounds about right. Next year: aight it’s gonna cost 60 billion now Few years later: now it costs 100 billion Another few years: all righty we will cancel the norther stretch. Oh and the cost is still over 100 billion.
I'm happy to see TH-camrs in other countries talks about the THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail). I really love and proud of this high speed rail system as a resident in Taiwan. But I think the picture & videos from 7:07 to 7:17 are not about the earthquake & THSR. That was an accident in 2021 which the vehicle fell into the rail and the train (Taroko limited express) operated by TRA hit it.
Westerners are so used to the corruption of under bidding then over charging once the contract has been signed that it has become the norm. It is a damn shame.
1. The reason for the possibility of using a shorter nose, is because the wider tunnels produces less of a shockwave when the train enters, meaning that it doesn't need to pronounced "duckbill" of its 700 bretheren to mitigate. 2. However, this much customization of the rolling stock isn't without downsides. While the first batch had enough numbers to drive down procurment costs, later small additional batches of trainsets became prohibitively expensive, hindering service expansion. 3. The way the video phrased the Changhua-Kaohsiung viaduct is correct, but kinda weird. It used to be the longest bridge in the world between 2004 and 2010, until it was surpassed by the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge in China. It remained in 2nd place since. 4. TRUPO (short for Taipei Rail Underground Project) is -- as obvious from the name -- a grade separation project to bury the entire rail section within Taipei city underground. It's technically a tunnel, yes, but not in the way post people imagine tunnels to be. The longest true tunnel is the Baguashan tunnel, at 7,357m. 5. THSRC was only able to make a net income _because_ of the government bailout, which greatly decreased its interest payment burden. 6. There is no practical way a Pingtung extension can be complete by 2029. The route hasn't even been decided yet (that's slated for end of this year), and none of the candidates are easy to build. The line depicted in the video is actually the most difficult one, and unlikely to get picked. 7. Likewise, 2030 to Yilan is far too optimistic, as it would need to drill deep through mountains. A comparable project, the 13km long Hsuehshan tunnel under the same mountain range, took 15 years to build.
Whilst the HSR is impressive, can we just step back and admire the ingenuity and motivation to create the _Taoyuan-Taipei airport MRT...._ THROUGH A MOUNTAIN!!! After leaving Taiwan back in 2013 when this project was under construction, I returned to Taipei in 2019 and found a brand spanking new MRT link from CKS airport to the Taipei Main Station for way cheaper than going between Heathrow and Piccadilly Circus. Loved it!
Thank you for your vid. We will visit Kaohsiung next March 2025 and we are already very excited to ride THSR trains when arriving from TPE int’l airport. We can’t wait longer to experience this trip 👍😘👍🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
I didn't know that Taiwan HSR was a hybrid. Very cool story. I may say that bringing profit only mere 3 years is a great achievement. And costing only 3 billion extra is very good as well. I also think the Gov did a good job of increasing its shares and I am glad they are this committed to expand the network. I would have probably chosen the Japanese bid for various reasons, which are: > overall better rail service in Japan than France and Germany > Japan is nearer to Taiwan not only geographically, but also culturally and morphologically However, I am surprised this hybrid didn't come out as something ugly. Instead I am very glad that the punctuality and safety standards are that high! Very impressed.
operational income =/= profit also net income =/= profit _PS: profit itself is a signal of the market that demand is above supply, so buyers OUTBID each other to acquire RARE product. Something like a public infrastructure monopol should actually never incur a profit, as this means the consumer is being OVERCHARGED for the service._
_PPS: profits are incentives for competitors to join in on the supply side, to increase the supply until it meets demand at which point the profit vanishes. It's easy to realize that a public infrastructure monopol is non-competitive BY DESIGN, which means profits can not be acted upon by any competitor._
@@joansparky4439 Sorry, I mean operational income. It's good if they can have some income to keep everything running and also develop. Of course, public transportation should not focus on profit. But it's also good that such a great project is giving back some money for the system to survive. If there are so many users everyday, it means that luckily the price balance is correct.
You can compare the local airlines going from Taipei TSA airport to Kaohsiung KHH airport as Taiwan HSR develope. This high speed railway effectively replaced almost all of the traffic demand by airline of this route nowaday.
Thanks for the video. I took Taiwan HSR a few times last year. It was extremely efficient and just like the Shinkansen. The fares were much lower though! The statement about adhering to European safety standards being better than Japanese ones is puzzling, since No Shinkansen has had an accident in 50 years. Taiwan has done such a good job with their transport infrastructure.
@@EdgyNumber1 Thanks for that information. I also took a freeway which was elevated for many kilometres, thus avoiding the land conflict problems usually caused by huge highways.
From I what I remember in Japan, Taiwan was supposed to use the French/European system. I think they already designed and ordered everything. But they suddenly got worried about earthquakes, and wanted Japanese signal and safety technology midway in the project. Which ended as using French/European framework/hardware with Japanese software and signal standards.
This biggest difference in terms of signal control is that the European one allows trains to travel in both directions on both tracks, while the Japanese system only allows one direction on each. This feature was proven a better design when a huge landslide occurred in the nearby area from where the trains pass few years ago. Due to precautious measure, one of the tracks was shut down, but trains can still carry passengers in both direction thanks to that feature.
I remembered that when I was in elementary school 20 years ago in Taipei, some people said this high speed rail is not necessary given that the island is small. However, now I think it is just too convenient !
Wow, that's well before Taipei 101 of course but was the skyscraper in front of the main train station even built at the time? The first metro line that opened in 1996 has great views but it's totally unlike the rest of the system, which is much faster, has more capacity and efficiency. My first memories of Taipei are nearly two decades after yours, and still it's changed beyond recognition since. If you ever visit again, you'd be in for a (positive) shock. Easily one of the fastest changing places in the developed world.
New high speed trains for Taiwan from Japanese consortium HTSC . HTSC will deliver trains based on the Class N700S Shinkansen, their delivery will begin in 2026.😀
Like the first Tokaido Shinkansen (Hitachi Kawasaki 0 Series) of the 1964 Games, the N series, continues the traditions of performance and safety of the Japanese railways, JR, which in 59 years of operation have recorded no fatalities or derailments and recorded no delays, despite rail speeds ranging from 210 km/h to 320 km/h. ( Due to human causes!! ) Thank you very much and congratulations for this superb comment, these Asian railways, greetings from Lorient, Frédéric in South Brittany.
はい、自然の出来事、日本の列島で定期的に発生する自然の気まぐれであり、人為的ミスによるものではありません。 Yes, A natural event, a whim of nature as it regularly occurs on the archipelago of Japan, which is not due to human error.
I am an american. I visit taiwan every year --- wife is taiwanese. We love their HSR!!! Smooth ride, clean, and fast. Oh, quiet and roomy train. Affordable prices and punctual. I honestly give it a 10/10. VIRGINIA, USA: 1/2025.
I found some misinformation in the video, the Taroko express train accident was not caused by earthquake, it’s a truck block the railway and the train crush into it.
Taiwan(R.O.C) is not part of China(P.R.C). On the contrary, we are an independent country.The Name is Republic of China. Our island has more than 100 mountains over 3,000 meters high, and the Taipei 101, which is 508 meters high and has 101 floors. Of course, there is also TSMC, which manufactures 62.0% of the world's chips.
Taiwan’s HSR is great, don’t get me wrong, I have been on it and it’s great. However, it has its issues, one being that some stations, notably Tainan (also Chiayi, Taoyuan, and even Zuoying), is far from serving the city centre (and it’s far worse than Shin-Osaka/Osaka type situation), this was largely due to cost cutting measures and locals disapproval, so it doesn’t serve as much people as conveniently some might suggest, not to mention that the east part of Taiwan (Taitung, Hualien, Yilan) are still yet to be served by HSR. Another is that it changed the transportation mode of the southern part of the country. With majority of international traffic focused on Taipei, the south has lost a lot of international traffic from Air especially, which is why many people near Kaohsiung rather fly to Hong Kong/Japan and then transfer onto international flights as the time it takes from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong, is the same time it takes to travel to Taoyuan HSR Station (which is not connected to the airport), if not shorter.
Mistakes: 3:16 Chinese characters are "Chunghwa Telecom" (中華電信，Chunghwa means Chinese race). It's a telephone and internet service provider, not a railway company. 6:51 This collapsed building was in 2024 Hualien earthquake, not in 2010 Tainan earthquake. Hualien is in eastern Taiwan, without High Speed Rail pass by. 7:09 This derailed train called Taroko, happened in 2021 Hualien, it operates by Taiwan Railway, not HSR. They are two different companies. 10:23 (HSR) "to a speed of 300 km/h". It's incorrect, the Taiwan HSR daily average speed is 230 km/h, for energy efficiency. Taiwan HSR makes the traffic between Taipei and Kaohsiung has shortened to 90 minutes, meaning a one-day living circle. In the 1990s, it takes 5~7 hours by Freeway, or 2 hours by plane (including security check). The biggest problem is, HSR build rail stations in rural areas, passengers have to transit to downtown, it perhaps takes longer time than rail. It violates the objective: go faster in less time. Taiwanese people doubt that they do so for land interests, not for passenger convenience. (They rationalized it "balance urban and rural development")
Just a Taiwanese comment passing by thank you for making a great video talking about our high speed rail although I don't really like the oraange color on our HSR, I also often take the HSR from my hometown Taichung to Taipei, it only take me about 40 minutes to go to Taipei, it's comfortable and speed really make passenger willing to take one more time
A bit of comment some picture that you said to be 700 series is wrong some of the picture are N700/A series which is exactly different series of train but good video and info tho. ^_^
I seem to understand why my classmate is willing to go to Taipei Railway Station every morning to take pictures of the train. The first time I learned so much about Taiwan’s high-speed rail was on the English channel .😂
3:42 三菱重工業株式会社(Mitsubishi jūkōgyō kabushiki kaisha) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 三菱自動車工業株式会社(Mitsubishi jidōsha kōgyō kabushiki kaisha) MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION These two are part of the same Mitsubishi Group, but they are different companies. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the parent company and Mitsubishi Motors is a subsidiary. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is involved in the Taiwan project.
I live in Nangang District Taipei City，located in the East District of Taipei City. Sometimes I take the high-speed rail to go to the West District of Taipei City ～ I am very fortunate that there is a high-speed rail station in the east and west districts of Taipei City the capital of the Republic of China 🇹🇼，which is very convenient 👍
Good video for introducing Taiwan HSR system. However, there are still some wrong photos/videos introduced while explaining the history. They might confuse the audiences, especially for Taiwanese or people who lives in Taiwan. For example, when mentioning how HSR survived after earthquake in southern Taiwan while using wrong earthquake photo in Hualian(east Taiwan) and train accident photo of TRA (Taiwan railway instead of HSR).😅
i also read some where but may be mistaken, that the line also connected with many orphan bus lines and narrow gauge trains via stations . good i dea for transportation transparency.
Great you describe the success story that the Taiwan High-Speed Rail is. It's absolutely true and no exaggeration that it's very efficient and reliable, operating flawlessly, regardless of earthquakes and typhoons, and with a spotless safety record. That being said, the presentation could be better. There is too much unrelated low-quality footage that either isn't from Taiwan at all but for example Japan, or when it is actually from Taiwan, it's not the high-speed (HSR) but regular rail (TRA), which is completely separate. The computer-generated voiceover has atrocious pronunciation when it comes to foreign words. And I don't just mean Chinese or Japanese but French as well. I can't speak for everyone but I'd prefer to hear your genuine voice, even with an accent. Regardless, I appreciate the effort: thanks for putting Taiwan's high-speed rail into spotlight. As for the subject matter, the system still has some caveats: the tickets, although not prohibitively expensive, are not very competitive with other ways to travel: hence there is still a lot of long-distance bus traffic. The intermediate stations were built away from the cities, in anticipation their urban areas will expand, which hasn't really been the case, as their population isn't growing. The switch to Japanese trains happened purely for political reasons, there is no technological justification for such a hodgepodge. All the more respect to the people behind Taiwan HSR for managing to keep it running over the years with nearly no issues. Overall, it's a very quick and reliable way to travel between the 3 largest cities, and probably the most affordable way to ride a Shinkansen.
Great story. In addition to the mentioned minor expansions at the end of the video, are there any long-term plans by the Taiwanese government for further development of the island's railway system, and is there a need for a larger network expansion to improve connectivity between smaller towns and rural areas with major urban centers?
Generally speaking, the distance between rural urban gaps are very small with multiple mode of transportation available to commute between each other, so its more upgrade than expansion. The really huge gaps were result of geographical issue, as in its up in the mountains.
700T built in Japan than ship to UK ? Can you imagine the cost ? It's fortunate for UK to have Hitachi running a factory in UK and work with France to build the trains for HS2 in UK
Just point out some misinformation 3:17 This icon isn't belong to Chunghwa HSR consortium.It's Chunghwa Telecom's icon,the largest telecom company in Taiwan 6:53 This picture been shot in Hualien city,a city locate at eastern part of Taiwan.The structure in picture is Uranus Building,which was heavily damaged on 3 April 2024 during the 2024 Hualien earthquake 7:09 to 7:16 The accident train in picture is belong to Taiwan Railways Administration(now is State-owned Taiwan Railway Corporation,Taiwanese call it Taiwan bento Administration as well),operating the traditional railway in Taiwan and know as never on time,high accident rate and delicious boxed meal.The details of that accident just search 2021 Hualien train derailment,which cause 49 passenger dead and 309 injured. 14:12 The extension is from Nangang to Yilan 14:29 HSR Kaoshiung station isn't exist,only TRA's train in that station.But it really appear in one option of High-speed rail eastward extension to Pingtung project A meme about HSR and TRA HSR:Clean,Speed,Safety,On time TRA:Can get there(Maybe
Still highly used just like Japan. More use as commuter train or nearby city transportation. Taipei to Kaohsiung(main city of northern and southern Taiwan) Narrator took about 3.5hr THSR took about 1.5hr I personally often takes narrator since the ticket price is about half of what THSR cost, also narrator stations are all built in downtown. (Which means if I took THSR to Kaohsiung, I require a transfer metro trip, added 20+ minutes to reach central Kaohsiung. )
I noticed that you used footage from five of my videos in your video without giving any credit, and you didn’t ask for permission beforehand. Please add proper attribution to the video description and ensure that you get consent before using any creator's content in the future.
Hi Edward, we sincerely apologize for the oversight. We have now added proper credits at the beginning of the video description. We truly value your work and will make sure to ask for permission beforehand in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Before the operation of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation, it took 6-7 hours to drive from Taipei to Kaohsiung. After the operation of the high-speed rail, the transportation time from Taipei to Kaohsiung was shortened to 100 minutes, completing the one-day living circle of cities in western Taiwan and solving the problem of highway traffic jams. Although the ticket price is relatively high Expensive, but the time cost is cost-effective, and it also reduces air transportation across cities in western Taiwan. There are no domestic routes in western Taiwan, and it also solves the waste of fuel.
I just took a trip in business class on THSR yesterday. Sadly the train carriages are not well-maintained for cleanliness, and the seats and fixtures are showing their age. Otherwise, the trains run on time and are very efficient.
Taiwan is poised to probably be the first First-World country to meet environmental goals if they can force modal shift on this HSR spine, depending on energy generation.
What’s with the weird sound effects? It’s distracting me from your video. I just can’t complete it, I’ll check back in next time it pops in my feed to see if it’s reverted to good form. But I fear this channel is about to enter die off to be replaced by the next rail channel.
Taiwan's flag wasn't shown for Taiwan... I hope it wasn't solid red to imply that it is apart of China (PRC), because it simply is not a province of the PRC.
@@一片祥和台上台下 Incorrect, no it is not at all. I can provide an incredibly long response to prove that it isn't after researching the relationship between the two nations for 2 years. I know more about the legality of Taiwan's current existence with the People's Republic of China than the Chinese people themselves. I mean, it's in my freaking bio. I started off making a fool of myself in front of Chinese people under CGTN and Shanghai Eye comment sections, and then I went into the rabbit hole, and now know a lot, lot more.
@@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle if you get your source from the west, i would say you have been fool. unite nation officer said that taiwan is a province of china.
the local ruler got icbms for his own protection (from international interference) instead, so overall they got something, just nothing that serves any purpose for the average person there.
I wish that they had chosen DUPLEX design from France. It would've carried more passengers and higher revenues with not much higher operation costs for the double decker fleet. I wonder if the tunnels being larger might have due to this initial considerations for Duplex carriages? But I guess the Japanese did help Taiwan with lots of earthquake coping technologies, eg. The Taiwanese government was always going to take over as the majority shareholder. Very unlikely even in Taiwan, High Speed Rail would be consistently profitable. I will ride the whole length of the HSR in Taiwan next year. I also will travel on the entire island loop of the more conventional system. I will, if possible, do that in one go. Apparently one could buy Bento box and snacks in some stations without getting out of the station hence technically I would not interrupt my trip. (Anyone that might have tried it, please let me know if this is feasible. Thanks) Hopefully the proposal for having HSR on the east coast and hence creating an island loop HSR has been approved with study being conducted ATM. Hopefully it does get built in time for me to ride on the HSR loop before I get too old.
Therefore, for Vietnam, the best example for them to learn from in building their high speed rail project is not Mainland China, but Taiwan, whose north-south high speed rail system is very similar to Vietnam's high speed rail construction program. The difference is that Vietnam's high-speed rail project will be more autonomous.
I used to think it’s a waste of money since Taiwan is so small and we have airplane, but heck just go to a train station now I can go to kaosiung in two hours.
7:12 this is a different incident happened in 2021, Hualien train derailment, which is TRA train, not THSR. This is not "slightly" derailed train, the incident cause 49 death. At least do some research before posting videos.
What a great video. This is the project that changed my life. The company i worked for transferred me to taiwan to be part of the construction. This has been one of the most memorable projects in my 30-year career. Never left taiwan in the end, as I love this home now.
As foreigner resident in Taiwan i can confirm that this high speed rail is one of the most sucessful and life-changing projects in the country. It is just perfect - reliable, convinient, modern (still), client-oriented, easy connection to other public transport system, reasonable pricing. No noise inside, no shaking. And guys, with this orange livery the trains are so cool. Really, this rail is one of the great blessings i experience in this country.
I'm jealous
@@TAIWAN_PROVINCE_CHINANope,Taiwan is a independent and free democratic country. 你要台灣，就他喵的打過來呀，出張嘴
踩縫紉機的別吵了@@TAIWAN_PROVINCE_CHINA
@@TAIWAN_PROVINCE_CHINAFxxk China😊
@@TAIWAN_PROVINCE_CHINA 放屁！台灣的成就，跟中國有個毛關係！
This train was a huge task to build in Taiwan. I was visiting Taiwan frequently at the end of construction and during the early days of operations. The media there was always talking about the difficulties of the project and how the project lost lots of money initially. Of course today its very successful project, despite those initial challenges. Despite the challenging terrain and soil conditions in many areas, the major cities in Taiwan are perfect distance apart from each other for a successful high speed rail system. I totally recommend anyone visiting Taiwan to try the high speed rail, its a great way to see the country.
In Taiwan the Train and High speed Rail isn't the same one Because the Train is TRC
I lived in Taipei for a few months and traveled around the island with the high speed train.
The public transport in Taiwanese cities (incl. bike sharing and metro lines) and around the island is truly excellent!
??? They have only one high speed rail line running along the west coast . From Taipei in the north to Koashing in the south. Small country. Don't need more than this line.
高鐵沒有環島 台北以外的公共交通極度糟糕 對行人跟單車的友善度很低 走在路上會被車撞 人行道會被商家佔用 你可以去看看台北以外的地方
from initially planned 15 billion costs "escalated" to 18 billion. I had to chuckle when this was said, 20% cost overrun isn't exactly an escalation of costs, its actually pretty standard in large infrastructure projects lmao
Yeah, waiting for the shocking outcome of our half-baked HSR project in Britain.
Might have beat inflation too
@@EdgyNumber1
Aight we are going to build a state of art high speed train between London and Glasgow for only 48 billion pounds. Sounds about right.
Next year: aight it’s gonna cost 60 billion now
Few years later: now it costs 100 billion
Another few years: all righty we will cancel the norther stretch.
Oh and the cost is still over 100 billion.
Moreover,a single train car used to cost 10 million, but now it has risen to 50 million. They say this is so-called democracy.
I'm happy to see TH-camrs in other countries talks about the THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail). I really love and proud of this high speed rail system as a resident in Taiwan.
But I think the picture & videos from 7:07 to 7:17 are not about the earthquake & THSR. That was an accident in 2021 which the vehicle fell into the rail and the train (Taroko limited express) operated by TRA hit it.
我看到時也覺得怪怪的😂
$ 18 billion for a whole high speed network? In Germany we are paying $ 13 billion just for one new station in Stuttgart.
Well done Taiwan.
In fact, Taiwan has to pay artificially inflated price for its cars (railway carriages)
As a Taiwanese studying in Tübingen...Stuttgart 21 is totally a joke:P
Haiyaa, Deutsche Bahn just can’t do anything well, Schade.
Whenever I visited Taiwan, I always looked forward to riding the HSR.❤
Westerners are so used to the corruption of under bidding then over charging once the contract has been signed that it has become the norm. It is a damn shame.
1. The reason for the possibility of using a shorter nose, is because the wider tunnels produces less of a shockwave when the train enters, meaning that it doesn't need to pronounced "duckbill" of its 700 bretheren to mitigate.
2. However, this much customization of the rolling stock isn't without downsides. While the first batch had enough numbers to drive down procurment costs, later small additional batches of trainsets became prohibitively expensive, hindering service expansion.
3. The way the video phrased the Changhua-Kaohsiung viaduct is correct, but kinda weird. It used to be the longest bridge in the world between 2004 and 2010, until it was surpassed by the Danyang-Kunshan Bridge in China. It remained in 2nd place since.
4. TRUPO (short for Taipei Rail Underground Project) is -- as obvious from the name -- a grade separation project to bury the entire rail section within Taipei city underground. It's technically a tunnel, yes, but not in the way post people imagine tunnels to be. The longest true tunnel is the Baguashan tunnel, at 7,357m.
5. THSRC was only able to make a net income _because_ of the government bailout, which greatly decreased its interest payment burden.
6. There is no practical way a Pingtung extension can be complete by 2029. The route hasn't even been decided yet (that's slated for end of this year), and none of the candidates are easy to build. The line depicted in the video is actually the most difficult one, and unlikely to get picked.
7. Likewise, 2030 to Yilan is far too optimistic, as it would need to drill deep through mountains. A comparable project, the 13km long Hsuehshan tunnel under the same mountain range, took 15 years to build.
You know too much.
@@翠始皇 Insider.
Whilst the HSR is impressive, can we just step back and admire the ingenuity and motivation to create the _Taoyuan-Taipei airport MRT...._ THROUGH A MOUNTAIN!!! After leaving Taiwan back in 2013 when this project was under construction, I returned to Taipei in 2019 and found a brand spanking new MRT link from CKS airport to the Taipei Main Station for way cheaper than going between Heathrow and Piccadilly Circus. Loved it!
It's one of my favourite high speed rails
Thank you for your vid. We will visit Kaohsiung next March 2025 and we are already very excited to ride THSR trains when arriving from TPE int’l airport. We can’t wait longer to experience this trip 👍😘👍🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼🇹🇼
Welcome to Taiwan 🇹🇼 ❤❤
I didn't know that Taiwan HSR was a hybrid. Very cool story.
I may say that bringing profit only mere 3 years is a great achievement. And costing only 3 billion extra is very good as well.
I also think the Gov did a good job of increasing its shares and I am glad they are this committed to expand the network.
I would have probably chosen the Japanese bid for various reasons, which are:
> overall better rail service in Japan than France and Germany
> Japan is nearer to Taiwan not only geographically, but also culturally and morphologically
However, I am surprised this hybrid didn't come out as something ugly.
Instead I am very glad that the punctuality and safety standards are that high! Very impressed.
operational income =/= profit
also net income =/= profit
_PS: profit itself is a signal of the market that demand is above supply, so buyers OUTBID each other to acquire RARE product. Something like a public infrastructure monopol should actually never incur a profit, as this means the consumer is being OVERCHARGED for the service._
_PPS: profits are incentives for competitors to join in on the supply side, to increase the supply until it meets demand at which point the profit vanishes. It's easy to realize that a public infrastructure monopol is non-competitive BY DESIGN, which means profits can not be acted upon by any competitor._
@@joansparky4439 Sorry, I mean operational income.
It's good if they can have some income to keep everything running and also develop.
Of course, public transportation should not focus on profit.
But it's also good that such a great project is giving back some money for the system to survive.
If there are so many users everyday, it means that luckily the price balance is correct.
台灣和日本因此合拍一部影集，就是在描述台灣高鐵的興建過程。片名叫-路。
@ 台灣高鐵線路算是歐洲高鐵和日本新幹線的結合，但車輛選擇上是日本新幹線高速列車。 未來台灣高鐵將引進日本N700S新幹線列車。
You can compare the local airlines going from Taipei TSA airport to Kaohsiung KHH airport as Taiwan HSR develope. This high speed railway effectively replaced almost all of the traffic demand by airline of this route nowaday.
Welcome to visit Taiwan 🇹🇼 😊
Thanks ☺️
@@RailwaysExplainedyes but actually no
Very useful and efficient system. Well done Taiwan.
Thanks for the video. I took Taiwan HSR a few times last year. It was extremely efficient and just like the Shinkansen. The fares were much lower though! The statement about adhering to European safety standards being better than Japanese ones is puzzling, since No Shinkansen has had an accident in 50 years. Taiwan has done such a good job with their transport infrastructure.
Taiwan's standard rail network (TRA) hasn't had the best reputation in the past so its more than likely a self-imposed reaction to that.
@@EdgyNumber1 Thanks for that information. I also took a freeway which was elevated for many kilometres, thus avoiding the land conflict problems usually caused by huge highways.
From I what I remember in Japan, Taiwan was supposed to use the French/European system. I think they already designed and ordered everything. But they suddenly got worried about earthquakes, and wanted Japanese signal and safety technology midway in the project. Which ended as using French/European framework/hardware with Japanese software and signal standards.
This biggest difference in terms of signal control is that the European one allows trains to travel in both directions on both tracks, while the Japanese system only allows one direction on each. This feature was proven a better design when a huge landslide occurred in the nearby area from where the trains pass few years ago. Due to precautious measure, one of the tracks was shut down, but trains can still carry passengers in both direction thanks to that feature.
taiwan is like japan kids
I remembered that when I was in elementary school 20 years ago in Taipei, some people said this high speed rail is not necessary given that the island is small. However, now I think it is just too convenient !
I lived in Taipei 1990-1997. Too bad this wasn’t in existence then. The Taipei MRT was barely up and running. I missed it!
Wow, that's well before Taipei 101 of course but was the skyscraper in front of the main train station even built at the time? The first metro line that opened in 1996 has great views but it's totally unlike the rest of the system, which is much faster, has more capacity and efficiency.
My first memories of Taipei are nearly two decades after yours, and still it's changed beyond recognition since. If you ever visit again, you'd be in for a (positive) shock. Easily one of the fastest changing places in the developed world.
you should pay a visit now, it's now like a mini Japan
New high speed trains for Taiwan from Japanese consortium HTSC . HTSC will deliver trains based on the Class N700S Shinkansen, their delivery will begin in 2026.😀
Sky-high price train.
Like the first Tokaido Shinkansen (Hitachi Kawasaki 0 Series) of the 1964 Games, the N series, continues the traditions of performance and safety of the Japanese railways, JR, which in 59 years of operation have recorded no fatalities or derailments and recorded no delays, despite rail speeds ranging from 210 km/h to 320 km/h. ( Due to human causes!! )
Thank you very much and congratulations for this superb comment, these Asian railways, greetings from Lorient, Frédéric in South Brittany.
Actually there was a derailment accident happened during 2004 Chūetsu earthquake
はい、自然の出来事、日本の列島で定期的に発生する自然の気まぐれであり、人為的ミスによるものではありません。 Yes, A natural event, a whim of nature as it regularly occurs on the archipelago of Japan, which is not due to human error.
Due to similar culture, any Japanese products could easily succeed in Taiwan.
不見得
Yes I agree
@@a7040k-fedafasha 但大部分都挺成功的拉，Sony、Panasonic 、日立、象印、這些家電品牌在台灣都算是大牌。而且在台灣只要是日系包裝的產品，不管是用的、吃的都會比較好賣，所以很多日商都喜歡來台灣賣，畢竟產品不用在地化重新包裝，直接拿來賣台灣人反而比較喜歡，對他們來就先省了一筆錢，
I am an american. I visit taiwan every year --- wife is taiwanese. We love their HSR!!! Smooth ride, clean, and fast. Oh, quiet and roomy train. Affordable prices and punctual. I honestly give it a 10/10. VIRGINIA, USA: 1/2025.
Thanks!
Very interesting system. Japanese rolling stock, european technology (control system)! 🙂
Yea, that’s why HSR worked very well, it collect all the best things from both side🎉
The highlight is European safety standard. This standard is stricter than Japanese safety standard.
Many thanks for the great video. Informative and professional..
Him: "High speed railways have transformed transportation worldwide!"
Me: *Awkwardly coughs in Canadian*
😢
I found some misinformation in the video, the Taroko express train accident was not caused by earthquake, it’s a truck block the railway and the train crush into it.
0:20 🇹🇼台灣不是中國的一部分，請更正
Taiwan(R.O.C) is not part of China(P.R.C). On the contrary, we are an independent country.The Name is Republic of China. Our island has more than 100 mountains over 3,000 meters high, and the Taipei 101, which is 508 meters high and has 101 floors.
Of course, there is also TSMC, which manufactures 62.0% of the world's chips.
Great vid. Sounds like Taiwan have a very good HSR system
We whant the old voice back, it was the soul of the channel
Exactly!
He's taking care of family.
Family comes first
Nah the old one was quite boring and way too monotone
This voice is great
Taiwan’s HSR is great, don’t get me wrong, I have been on it and it’s great. However, it has its issues, one being that some stations, notably Tainan (also Chiayi, Taoyuan, and even Zuoying), is far from serving the city centre (and it’s far worse than Shin-Osaka/Osaka type situation), this was largely due to cost cutting measures and locals disapproval, so it doesn’t serve as much people as conveniently some might suggest, not to mention that the east part of Taiwan (Taitung, Hualien, Yilan) are still yet to be served by HSR. Another is that it changed the transportation mode of the southern part of the country. With majority of international traffic focused on Taipei, the south has lost a lot of international traffic from Air especially, which is why many people near Kaohsiung rather fly to Hong Kong/Japan and then transfer onto international flights as the time it takes from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong, is the same time it takes to travel to Taoyuan HSR Station (which is not connected to the airport), if not shorter.
Yeah, I agree. I was studying in Tainan during college. It takes the same amount of time to get to the station and to ride the railway back to Taipei.
感謝您正確的意見，台灣現在高科技業產業正在轉型，未來西部北中南沿著高鐵站荒涼的各地區，會有高科技園區進入，台灣高鐵會變成聯繫科技公司的重要網路，所以選擇了荒涼的地方可能因禍得福。
至於東部沿線，因為地形和地震等各種因素，要實現環島鐵路還需要技術和時間克服。
You just can't send the police to escort people from their home take the land for new station in TW
@@keiming2277isn't that exactly what happened in the earlier years. Although by the 90s you're correct
Mistakes:
3:16 Chinese characters are "Chunghwa Telecom" (中華電信，Chunghwa means Chinese race). It's a telephone and internet service provider, not a railway company.
6:51 This collapsed building was in 2024 Hualien earthquake, not in 2010 Tainan earthquake. Hualien is in eastern Taiwan, without High Speed Rail pass by.
7:09 This derailed train called Taroko, happened in 2021 Hualien, it operates by Taiwan Railway, not HSR. They are two different companies.
10:23 (HSR) "to a speed of 300 km/h". It's incorrect, the Taiwan HSR daily average speed is 230 km/h, for energy efficiency.
Taiwan HSR makes the traffic between Taipei and Kaohsiung has shortened to 90 minutes, meaning a one-day living circle. In the 1990s, it takes 5~7 hours by Freeway, or 2 hours by plane (including security check).
The biggest problem is, HSR build rail stations in rural areas, passengers have to transit to downtown, it perhaps takes longer time than rail. It violates the objective: go faster in less time. Taiwanese people doubt that they do so for land interests, not for passenger convenience. (They rationalized it "balance urban and rural development")
Only thing off is the earthquake train clip is not the HSR but the regular pedestrian train system that was off track that day.
Just a Taiwanese comment passing by
thank you for making a great video talking about our high speed rail
although I don't really like the oraange color on our HSR, I also often take the HSR from my hometown Taichung to Taipei,
it only take me about 40 minutes to go to Taipei, it's comfortable and speed really make passenger willing to take one more time
7:08 That train was not crashed by earthquake.That was crashed by a car that accidentally slipped into train line.
3:17 This is actually the logo of Chunghwa Telecom which probably has nothing to do with Chunghwa HSR Consortium.
A bit of comment some picture that you said to be 700 series is wrong some of the picture are N700/A series which is exactly different series of train but good video and info tho. ^_^
Great one 👌 . Have used it in 2023. As perfect as the shinkasen Vorbild.
7:08 that’s TRA not HSR. You’re mixing the two different train systems in Taiwan.
He is not only mixing the two different companies, but also the wrong direction of the train and the tunnel. That tunnel is in Hualien, not Tainan.
Yeah, he made a lot of mistakes in this video 😮💨
I seem to understand why my classmate is willing to go to Taipei Railway Station every morning to take pictures of the train.
The first time I learned so much about Taiwan’s high-speed rail was on the English channel .😂
3:42
三菱重工業株式会社(Mitsubishi jūkōgyō kabushiki kaisha)
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
三菱自動車工業株式会社(Mitsubishi jidōsha kōgyō kabushiki kaisha)
MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION
These two are part of the same Mitsubishi Group, but they are different companies.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the parent company and Mitsubishi Motors is a subsidiary.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is involved in the Taiwan project.
I live in Nangang District Taipei City，located in the East District of Taipei City.
Sometimes I take the high-speed rail to go to the West District of Taipei City ～
I am very fortunate that there is a high-speed rail station in the east and west districts of Taipei City the capital of the Republic of China 🇹🇼，which is very convenient 👍
I wish we had this in Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For real though, how do y'all have a STRAIGHT LINE that contains like 70% of your population with no HSR?
@@MAL1GNANTl actually agree with you
@@MAL1GNANT Everything can happen if you disregard the cost, debt any financial struggling in the future
14:27 There is no route to Kaohsiung station currently. It ends only at Zuoying station. Anyways, thank you for your introduction.
Good video for introducing Taiwan HSR system. However, there are still some wrong photos/videos introduced while explaining the history. They might confuse the audiences, especially for Taiwanese or people who lives in Taiwan.
For example, when mentioning how HSR survived after earthquake in southern Taiwan while using wrong earthquake photo in Hualian(east Taiwan) and train accident photo of TRA (Taiwan railway instead of HSR).😅
i also read some where but may be mistaken, that the line also connected with many orphan bus lines and narrow gauge trains via stations . good i dea for transportation transparency.
Great you describe the success story that the Taiwan High-Speed Rail is. It's absolutely true and no exaggeration that it's very efficient and reliable, operating flawlessly, regardless of earthquakes and typhoons, and with a spotless safety record.
That being said, the presentation could be better. There is too much unrelated low-quality footage that either isn't from Taiwan at all but for example Japan, or when it is actually from Taiwan, it's not the high-speed (HSR) but regular rail (TRA), which is completely separate.
The computer-generated voiceover has atrocious pronunciation when it comes to foreign words. And I don't just mean Chinese or Japanese but French as well. I can't speak for everyone but I'd prefer to hear your genuine voice, even with an accent.
Regardless, I appreciate the effort: thanks for putting Taiwan's high-speed rail into spotlight.
As for the subject matter, the system still has some caveats: the tickets, although not prohibitively expensive, are not very competitive with other ways to travel: hence there is still a lot of long-distance bus traffic. The intermediate stations were built away from the cities, in anticipation their urban areas will expand, which hasn't really been the case, as their population isn't growing. The switch to Japanese trains happened purely for political reasons, there is no technological justification for such a hodgepodge. All the more respect to the people behind Taiwan HSR for managing to keep it running over the years with nearly no issues. Overall, it's a very quick and reliable way to travel between the 3 largest cities, and probably the most affordable way to ride a Shinkansen.
yesss this iss the train i was mention at any youtube expecially europe people that like to use this train in asia
Great story. In addition to the mentioned minor expansions at the end of the video, are there any long-term plans by the Taiwanese government for further development of the island's railway system, and is there a need for a larger network expansion to improve connectivity between smaller towns and rural areas with major urban centers?
Generally speaking, the distance between rural urban gaps are very small with multiple mode of transportation available to commute between each other, so its more upgrade than expansion. The really huge gaps were result of geographical issue, as in its up in the mountains.
謝謝介紹台灣🇹🇼❤
Britain should get a version of these 700T's.
HS2
The issue isnt the train running, but the tracks.
700T built in Japan than ship to UK ?
Can you imagine the cost ?
It's fortunate for UK to have Hitachi running a factory in UK and work with France to build the trains for HS2 in UK
Very detailed video. Thank you❤
Just point out some misinformation
3:17 This icon isn't belong to Chunghwa HSR consortium.It's Chunghwa Telecom's icon,the largest telecom company in Taiwan
6:53 This picture been shot in Hualien city,a city locate at eastern part of Taiwan.The structure in picture is Uranus Building,which was heavily damaged on 3 April 2024 during the 2024 Hualien earthquake
7:09 to 7:16 The accident train in picture is belong to Taiwan Railways Administration(now is State-owned Taiwan Railway Corporation,Taiwanese call it Taiwan bento Administration as well),operating the traditional railway in Taiwan and know as never on time,high accident rate and delicious
boxed meal.The details of that accident just search 2021 Hualien train derailment,which cause 49 passenger dead and 309 injured.
14:12 The extension is from Nangang to Yilan
14:29 HSR Kaoshiung station isn't exist,only TRA's train in that station.But it really appear in one option of High-speed rail eastward extension to Pingtung project
A meme about HSR and TRA
HSR:Clean,Speed,Safety,On time
TRA:Can get there(Maybe
The terminal station in southern Taiwan is not Kaoshiung. Is Zuoying
What happened to the old narrator?
Just had a new baby, as per a recent post.
Still highly used just like Japan. More use as commuter train or nearby city transportation.
Taipei to Kaohsiung(main city of northern and southern Taiwan)
Narrator took about 3.5hr
THSR took about 1.5hr
I personally often takes narrator since the ticket price is about half of what THSR cost, also narrator stations are all built in downtown. (Which means if I took THSR to Kaohsiung, I require a transfer metro trip, added 20+ minutes to reach central Kaohsiung. )
@@ianhomerpura8937l actually agree
The new narrator is AI-generated. Awful, cheap. I want real humans with a soul to narrate.
@@Nasarbajew84 l actually agree with you.
14:18 I heard from the news that the high-speed train takes 18 minutes from Nangang Station to Yilan Station.
法國TGV機電系統配合日本新幹線車廂，台灣機電整合力一級棒
Very useful information ❤
And most important, its ticket price is much cheaper @2024 GDP per person compared with other countries which have HSR system.
Lacking the cursed photo with ICE-powered push-pull cars and TGV passengers rolling stock. Great video!
The electric system of 700T is actually more similar to 500 series rather than 700 series, this is why it has a higher speed.
3分17秒附圖是中華電信，根本不是中華高鐵聯盟😆
3:17 The image shows Chunghwa Telecom, not the Chunghwa HSR consortium.
I noticed that you used footage from five of my videos in your video without giving any credit, and you didn’t ask for permission beforehand. Please add proper attribution to the video description and ensure that you get consent before using any creator's content in the future.
Hi Edward, we sincerely apologize for the oversight. We have now added proper credits at the beginning of the video description. We truly value your work and will make sure to ask for permission beforehand in the future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
We should build pretty much this in Switzerland as well.
Cho hỏi tốc độ đường sắt này thiết kế có đạt 350 km không hay nhỏ hơn ?
Before the operation of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation, it took 6-7 hours to drive from Taipei to Kaohsiung. After the operation of the high-speed rail, the transportation time from Taipei to Kaohsiung was shortened to 100 minutes, completing the one-day living circle of cities in western Taiwan and solving the problem of highway traffic jams. Although the ticket price is relatively high Expensive, but the time cost is cost-effective, and it also reduces air transportation across cities in western Taiwan. There are no domestic routes in western Taiwan, and it also solves the waste of fuel.
I just took a trip in business class on THSR yesterday. Sadly the train carriages are not well-maintained for cleanliness, and the seats and fixtures are showing their age. Otherwise, the trains run on time and are very efficient.
Ontario spent more than that for 18km of light rail that remains unfinished after 15 years. Standards people
as always a cool and informative Video.
But: Can you please get your "old" narrator back to the mic? I liked that accent
But I don't miss things like "In this today's video". That always made me cringe.
@@passatboi as they aren't native English speakers it's regretable
Taiwan is poised to probably be the first First-World country to meet environmental goals if they can force modal shift on this HSR spine, depending on energy generation.
The picture at 3:17 is incorrect; it shows Chunghwa Telecom, but it should actually be China Development Financial.
What’s with the weird sound effects? It’s distracting me from your video. I just can’t complete it, I’ll check back in next time it pops in my feed to see if it’s reverted to good form. But I fear this channel is about to enter die off to be replaced by the next rail channel.
太專業了 連省政府時期的規劃都有查到
這樣的影片居然是外國人製作的
真是令人不敢相信！
省政府時期的鐵路規劃真的都是最美好的
可惜沒有講到左營延伸高雄的選址困難
在7:17時影片引用的台鐵事故非天然災害，而是台鐵外包商車輛滑落鐵路營運運鐵路上造成
Taiwan's flag wasn't shown for Taiwan... I hope it wasn't solid red to imply that it is apart of China (PRC), because it simply is not a province of the PRC.
taiwan is a province of the PRC indeed
@@一片祥和台上台下 Incorrect, no it is not at all. I can provide an incredibly long response to prove that it isn't after researching the relationship between the two nations for 2 years. I know more about the legality of Taiwan's current existence with the People's Republic of China than the Chinese people themselves. I mean, it's in my freaking bio. I started off making a fool of myself in front of Chinese people under CGTN and Shanghai Eye comment sections, and then I went into the rabbit hole, and now know a lot, lot more.
@@HTV-2_Hypersonic_Glide_Vehicle if you get your source from the west, i would say you have been fool. unite nation officer said that taiwan is a province of china.
@@一片祥和台上台下 if you get your facts from the PRC, you have been fooled, as Taiwan was an ally and made agreements with the West, not China.
@@一片祥和台上台下 like I said, we can converse, but saying things like UN officer said "X", that is not law.
Only North Korea is now left out of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region to have a high speed train.
the local ruler got icbms for his own protection (from international interference) instead, so overall they got something, just nothing that serves any purpose for the average person there.
No high speed train, only high speed rockets.
North Korea left out the 21 century 😅😅😅
India?
I can’t wait to see what the US takes from his story in future HSR projects
Also the earthquake referenced did not happen in March it happened on April 3rd
The grahps at 13:02 have either wrong numbers or bar heights
影片中的地圖，為何沒有貼上台灣的國旗？
這個應該跟作者來自地點有關，查頻道頁面就了解
I'm just super glad winnie (Xitler) is not in charge of Taiwan. Thank God!
It’s too bad geography has left the East Coast neglected, we could use HSR to Hualien and Taitung 😊
Too hard and expensive to fight mother earth for it. Bad karma too.
💪💪🇹🇼台灣加油🇹🇼💪💪
台灣高鐵買新車了即將2026年引進運行非常期待啊😂❤🇹🇼日本N700s
Maybe they can come build our HSR in California!
11:58 moscow domodedovo airport station.
I didn't know that it was made to European standards
台湾高鉄がすべて新幹線規格なら、完璧だったのになあ
If Taiwan High Speed Railway were of pure "Shinkansen" standard, it would be perfect.
"USD fifteen billion"? Can't imagine a human reading it that way...
AI???
I wish that they had chosen DUPLEX design from France. It would've carried more passengers and higher revenues with not much higher operation costs for the double decker fleet.
I wonder if the tunnels being larger might have due to this initial considerations for Duplex carriages?
But I guess the Japanese did help Taiwan with lots of earthquake coping technologies, eg.
The Taiwanese government was always going to take over as the majority shareholder. Very unlikely even in Taiwan, High Speed Rail would be consistently profitable.
I will ride the whole length of the HSR in Taiwan next year.
I also will travel on the entire island loop of the more conventional system. I will, if possible, do that in one go. Apparently one could buy Bento box and snacks in some stations without getting out of the station hence technically I would not interrupt my trip.
(Anyone that might have tried it, please let me know if this is feasible. Thanks)
Hopefully the proposal for having HSR on the east coast and hence creating an island loop HSR has been approved with study being conducted ATM.
Hopefully it does get built in time for me to ride on the HSR loop before I get too old.
歡迎來台灣旅行, 事實上台灣高鐵有提供車上販賣餐點服務, 類似飛機上的餐車服務, 用餐時段也有販賣便當, 我認為非常美味, 提供您參考.
Excellent report on Taiwan HSR system !
11:47 is that a Blue Fire clone?
The accent is better than Australian, British, or Scooby do
Therefore, for Vietnam, the best example for them to learn from in building their high speed rail project is not Mainland China, but Taiwan, whose north-south high speed rail system is very similar to Vietnam's high speed rail construction program. The difference is that Vietnam's high-speed rail project will be more autonomous.
台灣高鐵 😋😋😋
如果是一個月前製作影片的的話,那提醒您您今年0403的地震是7.2
This guy’s definitely AI
I used to think it’s a waste of money since Taiwan is so small and we have airplane, but heck just go to a train station now I can go to kaosiung in two hours.
7:12 this is a different incident happened in 2021, Hualien train derailment, which is TRA train, not THSR. This is not "slightly" derailed train, the incident cause 49 death. At least do some research before posting videos.