Taiwan Railway to ban political advertising in stations from 2027

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) State-owned Taiwan Railway Corp. (TR) on Monday said it would ban political advertisements in its stations with effect from next year, following criticism that such ads violated administrative neutrality.

The issue stems from a Threads post last week, in which a user shared photos of a campaign poster for Kuomintang (KMT) Yunlin County magistrate candidate Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) displayed next to ticket gates at Douliu Railway Station.

The user noted that TR prohibits the rental of station facilities for "political activities" such as campaign rallies. They argued that the ban likely also applied to political advertising, but was not being enforced.

In a statement on Monday, Taiwan Railway said that according to interpretations by the Central Election Commission and Ministry of Civil Service, advertising spaces at TR stations leased to third parties are considered commercial leases, and do not violate administrative neutrality regulations.

The railway added that it exercised oversight by requiring the fair treatment of candidates from all political parties, and limits the size of such advertisements.

However, "out of consideration for public perception and a commitment to administrative neutrality," the company said, it had decided to discontinue political and election-related ad space rentals in its stations from Jan. 1, 2027.

Political advertisements already posted will not be affected by new policy, it added.

Taiwan's 2026 local elections will be held on Nov. 28.