Taiwan High Speed Rail on track to break ridership record this year

Taipei, Dec. 22 (CNA) The number of journeys taken on Taiwan's high speed rail network this year is set to exceed the all-time-high recorded in 2023, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) said on Sunday.

The number of journeys taken reached 71.1 million in November, exceeding the figure of around 66.4 million for the same 11-month period last year, the rail company said.

In terms of the average daily ridership, there were 224,000 journeys in November 2024, an increase of 7 percent compared to the 209,000 journeys recorded in November 2023.

Apart from a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual number of journeys has grown steadily from around 15.6 million in 2007 to 73.1 million in 2023, the privately-run rail company said.

This year also saw the highest-ever monthly ridership since the network began operations 17 years ago, with nearly 6.8 million trips taken in March.

According to THSRC's website, the rail line -- which boasts speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour -- connects Taipei's Nangang District in the north of the country to Kaohsiung's Zuoying District in the south, following a western route extending around 250 kilometers.