THSR sees record ridership, overcrowding over long weekend

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) carried a record 348,000 passengers on Thursday, the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend, followed by 315,000 passengers on Friday, according to the railway operator.

The four-day holiday began Friday and will end Monday, which is Teachers' Day in Taiwan.

The 663,000 passengers carried over Thursday and Friday led to overcrowding on some trains, with passengers with non-reserved seat tickets spilling into reserved-seat and even business-class cars, prompting complaints on social media.

One person who identified themselves as a business-class passenger complained on Threads, saying they had chosen business class to avoid being disturbed and noting that current regulations prohibit passengers with non-reserved seat tickets from entering business-class cars.

The poster said passengers with non-reserved seat tickets who stand in a business-class car should pay the difference between the non-reserved and business-class fares.

According to fare information on THSR's website, a business-class ticket from Nangang in Taipei to Zuoying in Kaohsiung costs NT$2,500 (US$78.79), compared with NT$1,480 for a non-reserved ticket.

The website also states that passengers with non-reserved seat tickets who stand in a higher-priced car will be charged the fare difference and may also face a penalty equivalent to 50 percent of the difference.

THSR is expecting another wave of heavy traffic on Sunday and Monday as travelers return home.

In a statement Saturday, the company urged passengers to return earlier if possible.

It also advised people using non-reserved tickets to check the "non-reserved wait time" on its website and travel during periods shown with a green indicator to avoid peak-hour crowds.