Portal:Taiwan/Selected article/2007/January

Taiwan High Speed Rail Route Map.

The Taiwan High Speed Rail (Traditional Chinese: 台灣高速鐵路, also known as the THSR) is Taiwan's high-speed rail network, running approximately 335.50 kilometers (208 mi) from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City, which began operations on January 5, 2007. Adopting Japan's Shinkansen technology for the core system, the THSR uses the Taiwan High Speed 700T train, manufactured by a consortium of Japanese companies, most notably Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be USD $15 billion. Express trains travel from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City in roughly 90 minutes as opposed to the current 4-6 hours by conventional rail, although regular trains take a scheduled two hours when making all stops.