Photo courtesy of Taiwan High Speed Rail

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Taiwan's bullet train service is expected to see its 500 millionth passenger near the end of July, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) said Monday, adding that a series of events will be held to celebrate the occasion.

The company said that about 496 million tickets had been sold as of July 1 since the high speed rail started operation Jan. 5, 2007, and estimated that it will have served 500 million passengers by the end of this month.

To celebrate the milestone, THSRC said, it will award the 500 millionth passenger with a year of unlimited free rides.

The 499,900,998th and 499,900,999th passengers, as well as the 500,000,001st and 500,000,002nd passengers will also win high speed rail vacation packages of their choice, including free hotels and business class round-trip train tickets, the company said.

The high speed rail transported an average of 173,000 passengers each day during the first six months of this year, up 5 percent year-on-year, the company said.

(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
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