COST OF LIVING/Taiwan Railway Corp. announces new fares

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Taiwan Railway Corp. (TRC) on Wednesday published on its website new fares which will go into effect on June 23, with prices on services operated by the state-run railway company set to increase by an average of 26.8 percent.

According to the chart published by TRC Wednesday, the fare from Taipei Station to Xinzuoying Station on its Tze-Chiang Limited Express will increase from NT$824 to NT$975, while the fare from Taipei Station to Kaohsiung Station will rise from NT$843 to NT$994.

The TRC Board of Directors on Feb. 5 passed a motion to increase fares across all of its services, including local trains, due to the NT$13.79 billion deficit it posted last year.

According to TRC, the new fares were calculated at a profit of 0.36 percent, which translates into an average price of NT$1.82 (US$0.05) per kilometer, up from the current NT$1.46.

Passengers making short trips using the Cabinet's TPASS monthly pass will not be affected by the fare increase, and since the price increases are in inverse proportion to distance, they will have "limited impact" on passengers traveling long-distance, the TRC said.