New MOTC Minister Not Prioritizing TRA Corporatization|新交長踩煞車 台鐵凍漲.公司化喊卡

Former Transportation and Communications Minister Ho Chen Tan was originally scheduled to begin conducting an evaluation on the feasibility of corporatizing Taiwan Railways Administration and raising ticket prices, which have not been adjusted for 22 years, during the second half of the year. However, current Transportation and Communications Minister Wu Hong-mo made a U-turn, announcing these two tasks are not the government's current top priorities.


Taiwan Railways Administration ticket prices have been frozen for 22 years, and they will remain frozen for the near future. Transportation and Communications Minister Wu Hong-mo visited the Taiwan Railway Labor Union while inspecting traffic conditions during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend. The union asked him about the possibility of the TRA's corporatization, and Wu responded corporatization and ticket price adjustments are not the top priorities at the moment. The union immediately notified its members that "the minister personally explained the TRA will no longer be corporatized."

(Ticket price increases) cannot reflect costs and they raise the burden on the public. We are against raising train fares, so we were very happy to see how pragmatically and conscientiously Minister Wu regarded the opinions of the union.

The union says it supports freezing prices and stopping corporatization. It will also organize an anti-corporatization rally to ensure the minister won't go back on his word. The government's TRA policies have taken a U-turn since Wu took office. A reassessment has been opened on the Dongao to Nanao section of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project. The possibility of extending the high speed rail to Pingtung has been changed from insufficient benefits to benefits need to be upgraded. These differ to the policies of Wu's predecessor, Ho Chen Tan. Wu also overturned Ho Chen's policy that users must pay freeway tolls. During this year's Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend, tolls were waived on sections of national freeways during daytime hours for the first time ever.

If you view this from the perspective of user fees, people got a small benefit. However, viewing this from the perspective of user fees means your management will be more inflexible. Minister Ho Chen considered these things from a management strategy point of view.

Scholars say the two ministers may have differing views due to changing circumstances and different considerations. On the issue of freeway tolls, the current minister's toll-free policy is based on the concept that users need to pay registration fees. Ho Chen considered tolls to be a management strategy, so his policies were more reactive.