Taiwan Railway posts losses of NT$13.79 billion in 1st year as company

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Taiwan Railway Corp. (TRC) on Tuesday reported a loss of NT$13.79 billion (US$418.26 million) last year in its first year as a state-owned company, the highest loss ever for the organization dating back to its many years as a government agency.

The loss far outpaced the loss of NT$7.4 billion foreseen by the company's original budget and exceeded the NT$12 billion loss it expected for the 2024 fiscal year in December, according to financial statements issued by TRC on Tuesday.

On the revenue side, ticket sales of NT$17.4 billion fell short of the NT$18.5 billion forecast originally, which the company attributed to the impact of major earthquakes in Hualien in April 2024 and other natural disasters on railway transportation and tourism.

The company also saw higher expenses than anticipated, including spending NT$2.3 billion on employee welfare benefits for the first time and another NT$200 million for the transfer of related assets when the company was established.

According to the company, operating costs have increased significantly in the past eight years due to higher personnel costs as the size of its staff has increased and night shift pay and hazard duty pay has gone up.

The number of employees increased from 13,851 in 2017 to 15,924 in 2023 when personnel costs increased to NT$16.8 billion.

That has contributed to a loss of over NT$10 billion every year since 2021, reaching NT$11.9 billion in 2021, NT$11.1 billion in 2022, and NT$11.4 billion in 2023, before hitting NT$13.79 billion in 2024.

Despite the losses, the company last year posted NT$4.64 billion in revenue from side businesses, such as bento sales and property development, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier.

According to the 2025 budget compiled by TRC, it projected a loss of NT$8.69 billion, with ticket revenue of NT$18.97 billion.

The company has complained that ticket prices have not changed for 30 years, and the TRC board of directors is set to discuss fare increase proposals on Wednesday.

The management has expressed hopes that the fare can be adjusted this year to increase ticket revenue and reduce TRC's losses.