Former Culture Minister Shih Che named Taiwan High Speed Rail chairman

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) Former Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) has been named the new chairman of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC), replacing James Jeng (鄭光遠), who has been appointed chairman of Taiwan Railway Corp., Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) announced on Wednesday.

Shih, who worked as a deputy mayor under two Kaohsiung mayors between 2016 and 2023, was chosen for his experience managing the high-speed rail when it was set to begin construction of extensions, including a section from Kaohsiung to Pingtung County, Chen said at a news conference in Taipei.

The former minister of culture, who has been a minister-without-portfolio since May 2024, was also picked for his ideas in marketing Kaohsiung, including attracting global artists, such as Cold Play, Maroon 5 and Kylie Minogue, to perform in the southern port city on their tour, according to Chen.

Jeng, who assumed the THSRC chairman post in February, has agreed to take up the chairperson post at Taiwan Railway left vacant by Du Wei (杜微) in March, Chen said.

The outgoing THSRC chairman and president will continue working on the transformation of Taiwan Railway, a former government agency which began operations as a state-owned company on Jan. 1, 2024 amid heavy losses, according to Chen.

The transportation minister said Jeng's prolific experience as a professional manager in shipping, airline and train companies are needed for the reform of Taiwan Railway, which Chen said is the most important rail transportation in the country, transporting 650,000-700,000 passengers a day, compared with THSRC's 220,000.

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.

Bob Chen (陳惠裕), current operation senior vice president and head of maintenance management division at THSRC, was chosen to replace Jeng as THSRC's president, the transportation minister said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railway board member Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) was named as the new head of the Tourism Administration.

She left the job as director of Taipei Culture Foundation's Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in April after making operations there profitable during her tenure, which began in 2019, according to the transportation minister.

The newly named Tourism Administration chief will be the first to have worked in a tourism business and to have not worked as a career civil servant, the transportation minister said.