Issues Found with App Used to Book Train Tickets|民間訂票APP有瑕疵 台鐵擬告設計者

The Railway Police Bureau recently discovered flaws with an app designed by a private company for booking Taiwan Railways Administration tickets. The app automatically used a fake national identification card number to reserve tickets, possibly creating legal issues. The TRA intends to sue the app developer. Meanwhile, some of the app's users say they still prefer using this app over the TRA's booking system.


Ms. He picks up her phone to purchase a train ticket from Hualien to Taipei. She doesn't use Taiwan Railways Administration's website to make the purchase, instead preferring to use this app designed by a private company. This app's rating is much higher than that of the TRA's official app, and it has been downloaded over 800,000 times.

I think this software (the non-official app) is very user-friendly. The TRA's app crashes all the time.

However, the Railway Police Bureau recently discovered flaws with this app. The app automatically used a fake national identification card number to reserve tickets, without users knowing. The police suspected identify theft, but then ascertained there was a problem with the app's design.

The problems were with phones that run iOS. The app used the ID number A100000001 in the reservation system when it sent the reservations to Taiwan Railways Administration, resulting in issues.

The TRA urges the public to use its official app to book tickets and protect their rights and benefits. It has filed a lawsuit against the app developer for violating the Trademark Act, obstructing computer usage, forging official documents and other offenses. Meanwhile, users are defending the app.

First of all, I think the design is very user-friendly. Second of all, it asks users to input their own national identification card number. Why can't the Taiwan Railways Administration hire this type of talented people to help it develop or update its own app?

In response to complaints that its app is not user-friendly, the TRA says it will make improvements. The non-official app's developer has already fixed the bugs and released a new version. However, it can no longer use "Taiwan Railways Administration" in its name, so the name has been changed.