Taipei, May 24 (CNA) Taiwan's traditional railway line may havelost customers to the country's north-south high speed rail line, butit has decided to fight back by selling its popular lunch boxes athigh-speed rail stations.

The Taiwan Railways Administration opened a lunch box stand atthe Taichung Station of the Taiwan high-speed rail system on Sunday,selling more than 500 lunch boxes on the day.

That was twice as many as sold at Taiwan Railways' Taichung Citystation, according to local newspaper reports on Monday.

The popular lunch boxes have considerable nostalgic value formany Taiwanese travelers, and one report quoted one passenger assaying he still prefers the taste of the old-styled railway lunchboxes after tasting those available on THSR trains.

The lunch boxes come in six different flavors, priced betweenNT$80 (US$2.48) and NT$100.

Taiwan Railways initiated the venture to sell their signatureproduct at high speed rail stations, the reports said, noting thatanother lunch box shop will be opened at the high-speed rail stationin Kaohsiung Wednesday.

So although the high-speed rail line has seized the heart ofpassengers who once commuted by the slower trains, it apparently hasstill not been able to seize their "stomachs," the reports concluded.

(By Elizabeth Hsu)
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