TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Railway delivered a report before the legislature’s Transportation Committee where it said it will continue with the second round of employee recruitment, seeking to add 722 new staff by the end of the year.

Taiwan Railway also said that it is targeting 245 million passengers next year, with a target on-time rate of 97.5% and a goal of NT$196 billion (US$6.11 billion) in freight revenue.

According to Taiwan Railway data, as of September, the daily average passengers has reached 642,000, an increase of 10.15% over the same period last year. Additionally, average daily passenger revenue has increased 5.62% to NT$47.39 million, per ET Today.

As for the cumulative number of passengers from January to September, the figure reached 176 million, an increase of 17 million, and passenger revenue reached NT$13 billion, an increase of NT$736 million compared to the same period last year. 

Taiwan Railway reported this year’s train on-time target is 97%. As of September, it has not been reached due to interruptions associated with earthquakes in Hualien and Taitung in the first half of the year. However, excluding major incidents such as natural disasters, the on-time rate was 97.13%.

In terms of future priorities and goals, Taiwan Railway said it will purchase automatic ticket gates and increase deployment from the current 69 stations to 121 stations. It will also optimize electronic ticket verification machines and update the train and station information display system (TIDS) at 219 stations.

The railway mentioned that the first phase of a smart railway cloud platform and management system will be launched in 2026. Also, it will prioritize the development of surrounding areas around Kaohsiung Station, Fengshan Station, Qidu Station, and Taichung Station to increase revenue.