EMU-3000 ZiQiang Express trains have charging ports for every seat if I remember correctly.
I typically avoid inter-city buses more often than not these days due to too many times having a driver swerving side to side in and out of the lanes like they’re dosing off or the times some idiot causes a accident that backs up traffic like crazy some days. I just find trains to be less stressful, safer, and reliable comparatively speaking anyways.
Haha I live kind of far from my local train station so the buses are more accessible for me
I know you did it 8 years ago, but do you remember why you capitalized both the T and A in Taiwan?
Fat fingers on keyboard
Sometimes in life the reasons are simple
The Taroko was also made by hitachi no? Why did the tilting train have problems ?
Are these tilting trains ?
Was something wrong with the tilting train design ?
I think tilting train just allows the train to go faster around curves, like tracks designed for slower trains. The problem is if you are running really fast in track designed for a slow train you can’t stop in time if there’s any obstacle on the track, leading to accidents…
Absolutely love the trains in Taiwan and hate the buses
They often have accidents with the buses Bad ones. Although the stats may prove them to be quite safe I’m not sure
I don’t feel safe riding the buses
I had a three week go anywhere pass on greyhound in 1981 in the USA and Canada and I used it to ride all over and never felt unsafe as I did riding Taiwan buses
The new trains under discussion—the Hitachi EMU 3000s—are not tilting trains.
The tilting train that derailed in Yilan in 2021 was a Puyuma, not a Taroko. This awful incident has its own thread:
Guy
Yes puyuma not taroko but were not both hitachi made?
I forgot what was determined to be the problem with the puyuma with that particular train
Was it mechanical or IIRC it was simply the driver exceeding the speed limit in that section and the train was supposed to automatically slow down but something went wrong mechanically so the device meant to slow it didn’t
Perhaps the driver thought the mechanism will slow him down and he didn’t himself put on the brakes prior. I’m not sure exactly what the reason was anybody remember?
There are two companies with self driving cars, perfecting software in San Francisco and they have now reached the stage where they are now allowed to drive themselves all around the city without anybody in them. Last night I had a situation where I was making a left-hand turn on Sunset Boulevard and I had a green light, and opposite me was one of those self driving cars. Also making a left-hand turn and that’s when I had a little bit of a situation. Should I let that car go first to make his left-hand turn, or do I go first and make my left-hand turn knowing that that was one of those self driving cars I wasn’t sure what its brain was designed to do so there was a bit of hesitation, so what actually happened? Was that I started going very slow and just kind of inching forward in my car. Also, it was doing the same thing going forward very slowly just inching forward and with his flashers on, and I have my flashers on so this car’s software brain was trying to figure out what this stupid human was trying to do and this stupid human is trying to figure out what this stupid self driving car was trying to do in the end, it all worked out. I made my left-hand turn and the car reacted accordingly and then made it’s turn so I think it was kind of waiting for a human reaction to make its decision so that was kind of a weird moment
Yeah, first encounter with a self driving car
I pretty much started cutting down on riding buses after those tour buses had a bad string of incidents for a few years…especially that one that killed all those Chinese tourists.
I remember being told back then inspect on these vehicles was only done when imported and afterwards they would be modified by the companies and not have to go through inspection again.
Mainly though what changed my mind was how hard bus companies push their drivers so I don’t feel that safe. I forget the incident but one company claimed that they gave their driver ample time to rest but the driver’s daughter said he only got a little rest and was likely a contributing factor for the incident.
Also since I primarily ride trains on the Western side of Taiwan I wasn’t too worried about the previous accidents…however I still have my concerns about TRA such as when they pushed all the blame on to the driver for the one deadly incident, even though it was well known there was faulty equipment and the driver was expected to just work around it.
I felt unsafe riding Greyhounds not because the bus driver is shit, but because the passengers on Greyhounds tends to be of shady character…
Puyuma trains were manufactured by Nippon Sharyo. They are not Hitachi trains.
Guy
That is very true especially today they are a true cast of characters to be sure
But back in 81 there were a lot of normal people today I’m not sure I want to ride either
I had a real adventure and one of these days will tell about it
Maybe on a Share your greyhound stories thread ??
With its fares having been frozen for 28 years, the TRA has submitted a proposal to the MOTC to raise its ticket prices with a rate of return of 1%. Under the proposal, tickets for Tze-Chiang express trains would rise by 11%, while fares for local trains would go up by as much as 27%.
They are also becoming corporatized so I expected this announcement was coming. The fares are super cheap for a lot of trains.
With an election coming, do you think members of the LY will approve it? I guess we’ll see . . .
Guy
Saw this on TaiwanPlus News a few days ago.
The big change in governance has arrived at TRA as it is now officially Taiwan Railway Corporation:
Guy
I’m not getting on any local trains without a t pass unless I’m going somewhere outside of their coverage once in a blue moon.
Trip from Taipei to fulong one way is like over 200. Literally a couple of trips would make the tpass pay for itself.
TRC* announced they want to have sleeping cars. Scheduled for 2027.
As part of its ambitious journey towards transformation, TRC is set to revolutionize passenger travel by introducing sleeping cars. Private service providers will play a crucial role in the procurement and operation of these sleepers, with a tender set for 2024, per CNA.