James Jeng assumes chairmanship of Taiwan Railway Corp.

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) James Jeng (鄭光遠), former chairman of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC), has assumed his new role at the state-owned Taiwan Railway Corp. (TRC) as the rail company tries to get its finances under control with the help of a sizable fare hike.

A special board meeting of TRC was held Monday to approve the appointment, which was announced last week by Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱).

Jeng took the helm from the acting chairman, Wu Sheng-yuan (伍勝園), who is also the deputy transportation minister.

In an open letter to TRA employees, Jeng said he has experience in the marine, air and ground transportation businesses, and his top priority in his new job will be to ensure safety, have a good on-time record, and provide fast and convenient transportation services.

Jeng, who visited the TRA workers union Monday, said he will also improve the welfare of the company's employees and optimize their working environment.

"Only happy employees will be able to satisfy the company's customers," Jeng said.

Taiwan Railway Corp. became a state-owned company operated by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in January 2024, after decades of being run as a government agency. It runs the non-high speed rail lines in Taiwan.

TRC recorded the railway network's highest ridership in history in 2024, but still incurred a loss of around NT$12 billion (US$406 million) in the year, compared with NT$11.43 billion in 2023 under the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).

The company's finances should get a boost from an average fare increase of 26.8 percent set to take effect on June 23, 2025. The railway had not put through a price increase since 1995.

In a separate statement, the TRA workers union, which had fought against the incorporation of the organization, said the company was still vulnerable to high long-term employee turnover and a lack of scheduling flexibility that could hurt the company's operations.

It said TRC had to restructure its wage system and subsidy mechanism if it wanted to retain its employees and avoid those problems.

Jeng joined the high-speed train operator in 2014 after a career across the Evergreen Group, where he held top management jobs, including as chairperson of EVA Airways, and participated in the initial bid to build and operate the country's high-speed rail services.

His vacancy in THSRC was taken by former Culture Minister Shih Che (史哲). Shih's appointment was approved by a special board meeting held on Friday.

In May 2022, the Legislative Yuan passed the Taiwan Railway Corporation Act to transform the TRA into a state-run corporation to reform the debt-ridden agency following two deadly train accidents in 2018 and 2021.

The TRA was later renamed Taiwan Railway Corp. Ltd. after being incorporated.