TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) may not consider the reintroduction of early bird tickets until the occupancy rate for the Tze-Chiang Limited Express returns to at least 70% or reaches a peak of over 80%, according to a TRA official.
Liu Shuang-huo, director of the TRA Transportation Division, said on Sunday (Nov. 5) that early bird tickets could affect the performance of early morning, late-night, and off-peak trains.
According to Liu, passenger volumes were expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels this year, but they have only reached about 90% of those levels.
The occupancy rate for the Tze-Chiang Limited Express has also remained below pre-pandemic figures, currently at around 61%. Despite introducing new Tze-Chiang EMU3000 express trains over the past few years, customer volume has not fully recovered.
However, the TRA suspended this policy in September 2022.
