Taiwan's railways to begin Lunar New Year ticket sales

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's two major railway operators announced Tuesday that train tickets for the Lunar New Year period will go on sale later this week.

According to the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC), ticket reservations for trains running between Jan. 23 and Feb. 3 will open on Dec. 26.

To accommodate the travel surge, THSRC said it will operate an additional 368 trains -- 200 southbound and 168 northbound -- bringing the total number of trains to 2,246 over the 12 days.

THSRC has also scheduled 18 late-night trains over the period, with the latest reaching its terminal station at 1 a.m. There will also be two early morning trains, with the earliest departing at 5:30 a.m.

To further ease passenger flow, it said, two to eight unreserved seating cars will be available on each train, with passengers advised to check station displays for availability.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railway Corp. will also increase capacity, running 302 extra trains across all lines during the same period.

Ticket reservations for the company's Eastern and Western main lines will open on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27, respectively, it said.

In addition, the company announced that on select trains it will suspend family cabin ticket sales -- typically reserved for pregnant women and passengers with children -- and instead offer those seats to regular travelers to improve efficiency during the holiday travel rush.