Taiwan's Rail website is god awful

Not only does the English version look like it was designed by a 7 year old but it’s so unhelpful.

Trying to book tickets and, well it tells me the departure time okay but not the arrival time. I don’t wanna book train tickets in case the travel time is something utterly ridiculous like 8 hours or in case the journey I’ve booked doesn’t get me to Hualien in time. Plus with the terrible design of the website, I’m half worried about clicking “continue to payment” in case the payment goes straight to Nigerian General or something. It looks less than trustworthy. I mean it looks fine until you click on “Internet ticketing” and get taken to this.

railway.hinet.net/net_eng.htm

I mean what the hell? There is no chance I am trusting a website that looks like it was made in five minutes on MS Paint.

There’s also an awful glitch where if you select (arrival) a city within a county, the (departure) city resets back to the default value. It sucks on many other levels too. But why should they bother getting it right? What’s the point?

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I would protest that web page’s destruction or reconstruction based on heritage values. It’s a classic page that shows kids what the web looked like in 1993.

And besides, the wallpaper is nice. :whistle:

Maybe you can combine that website with this one:

twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx

It seems to show departure and arrival times.

Well you can actually book as a foreigner these days with a passport no, not long ago you needed a Taiwan ID no to book a ticket!

Indeed. I find that most Taiwanese companies subscribe to this philosophy, not just TRTC. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s possible to get one of those ornate four-character signboards expressing this ideal.

And remember: if a job needs doing, it must first be offered to Nephew Who Studied Abroad. He’s always the best man for the job.

And if he’s busy, the Nephew’s Girlfriend Who Stayed in LA for Two Weeks.

It can help to use IE for Taiwanese websites.

The hiring relations over qualifications and experience is hardly unique to Taiwan.

possibly true … but in Taiwan the relation is picked precisely because of his experience ( :roflmao: ), not just because he’s a relation. And, of course, because he doesn’t need paying … so the boss, being financially illiterate, thinks he’s saved the company money.

BUT, but but…

A Taiwanese person, with an ROC ID can book and buy the ticket right at Ibon at 711. A foreigner, with an ARC and Taiwanese debit card cannot:

  1. Book ticket at Ibon
  2. Pay for online via taiwanese debit card

Which means, you have to:
FIRST-book online (but cant pay there!)
Second-go to 711 Ibon and pay there (as you cannot book there)

Which is just fuckloads of stupid.

Why not just choose a different form of transportation? Or not use the website and instead buy the tickets in person?

Tell that to Rosa Parks.

What are you trying to say? We shouldn’t bitch and moan about it here for a couple of hours?

Tell that to Rosa Parks.[/quote]

Rosa parks had no trouble buying a bus ticket…

Tell that to Rosa Parks.[/quote]

Rosa parks had no trouble buying a bus ticket…[/quote]

But we do because we are dealing with a segregated online booking system and it extends way beyond the TRA.

I have a dream, that one day, one can use an ARC ID number to buy things and book stuff, and that the same rights I have may even be extended to tourists and other non-residents who lack an official local ID number, whether they are citizens, or non-citizens; residents, or non-resident.

I have a dream, that one day, Taiwan will be as advanced as other countries of similar technological, economical and cultural development.

And I have a dream, that one day, Taiwan government agencies and businesses will publish web sites that are designed according to the universal principles of digital architecture.

Dreamer!

Tell that to Rosa Parks.[/quote]

Charlie, thank you! :roflmao:

But biggie, maybe you don’t travel around the island as often as I do.

HSR: too expensive
Bus: takes too damn long

But with the train, especially in the summer, ifya dont buy your ticket early, ya wont have a seat! But guess what Einstein, not everyone lives next door to the train station nor has loads of time to take a special trip there just to buy their ticket. So it makes perfect and total absolute sense to buy it beforehand. Unless ya wanna either stand in the aisle or sit between cars, in the blazing summer, with no AC there. Especially if your trip is 3+ hours or so…then more travel once you get to the station (rural Taiwan is hardly accessible by train, and buses just take too long). So when I have a 2-3 hour rented scooter ride AFTER riding the train, I would like to be able to have a cumfy seat. The color of my skin should not keep me from being able to do that easily.

So yeah, there are plenty of reasons to both take the train and be able to buy the ticket beforehand, without going to the station.

Are there any Taiwanese websites that aren’t godawful?

[quote=“Chris”]Are there any Taiwanese websites that aren’t godawful?[/quote] :thumbsup:

At least the OP’s link: http://railway.hinet.net/net_eng.htm is refreshingly free of flashing gifs, frames, ads and the other paraphernalia that are standard on other MIT pages.

Tell that to Rosa Parks.[/quote]

Charlie, thank you! :roflmao:

But biggie, maybe you don’t travel around the island as often as I do.

HSR: too expensive
Bus: takes too damn long

But with the train, especially in the summer, ifya dont buy your ticket early, ya wont have a seat! But guess what Einstein, not everyone lives next door to the train station nor has loads of time to take a special trip there just to buy their ticket. So it makes perfect and total absolute sense to buy it beforehand. Unless ya wanna either stand in the aisle or sit between cars, in the blazing summer, with no AC there. Especially if your trip is 3+ hours or so…then more travel once you get to the station (rural Taiwan is hardly accessible by train, and buses just take too long). So when I have a 2-3 hour rented scooter ride AFTER riding the train, I would like to be able to have a cumfy seat. The color of my skin should not keep me from being able to do that easily.

So yeah, there are plenty of reasons to both take the train and be able to buy the ticket beforehand, without going to the station.[/quote]

  1. I appreciate that you feel I am of advanced intellect, but I am not actually Einstein, though I do love his gnarly mustache.
  2. Life is only as hard as you make it. The world you live in can be an absolute nightmare, or paradise on earth, with no difference except the way you view it. You don’t live next door to the train station? Ok, then either travel to the station one day when you have time, or move next door to a train station. Want to buy the ticket beforehand? Then do it. Or don’t. Your choice. If you get a seat, then sit in it. If you have to stand in the isle, then stand in the isle. If you have to stay between cars, then stay between cars. Since this form of transportation was chosen by you despite other options, because it is the best mix of price and time effective, then why complain about the downsides? There are obviously up sides, and you chose it. No AC? So what? Choose a form of transport with AC if you need it. You mentioned that you have to ride a scooter for 3 hours after the train. Well, it seems to me that you would want to stand on the train then, so that your butt is fresh for the scooter ride. I would hate being in a seated position on the train for hours, then hop off and sit on a scooter for 3 hours.
  3. Everyone is responsible for their own situation. The color of your skin is not a problem. You can’t read or speak Mandarin? That’s your fault, learn. You can read and speak? Great, then you must have a problem because you’re not a citizen? Then become a citizen. You are a citizen and you can also read and speak Mandarin? Well, then the problem you are facing with the crappy website is still not designed to single you out, it’s obviously just as crappy for everyone else. It’s only crappy for foreigners? Ok, then that means its just as crappy for foreigners of every race, not just your race.
  4. Too far? Move closer. Too expensive? Make more money. Too slow? Choose something faster. Don’t like sitting? Stand.

I guess what I am saying is, things could be much, much worse. The environment you are in, every advantage, every disadvantage, every single detail, is a direct reflection of the choices you have made, and you have the power to change it how you see fit.

Of course if Taiwan is just such a racist, backwards, corrupt, incompetent place, then you could always… leave?
Just my two cents. I know the “tone” of a conversation can be lost in translation when reading it in text form, but I mean no disrespect to you at all, just trying to illustrate my view on the situation. I hope it works out for you, and I hope you have a safe trip.