Taiwan High Speed Rail

On January 5th 2007, Taiwan High Speed Rail began to open to vehicular traffic. It takes only 90 minutes to travel from Taipei to Kaohsiung. That truly makes a big different to people’s life. It is a must to know Taiwan High Speed Rail closely whether you are a rail enthusiast or an excited tourist!
What speed is called “High Speed”? Generally speaking, the speed under 200 km per hour we call it ordinary or medium speed. The speed over 200 km per hour is defined high speed. Taiwan High Speed Rail links Taipei and Kaohsiung, two big cities, about 345 km long. Along the way it crosses 14 counties, 8 stations.
The high speed changes people’s life. In the past, it takes a person at least five hours from Taipei to get to Kaohsiung by the fastest train. So a person must spare at least a day when he has to travel from Taipei to Kaohsiung for some business. But now, a doctor for example, he can be teaching classes at school at Taipei in the morning, rushing to Kaohsiung for a conference in the afternoon, and back to before sunset for a sergeant. Because of the speed, it saves time so that people can do more things. It is also true to the tourists.
Other than the speed, Taiwan High Speed Rail is better than automobiles on the aspect of environment protection. According to Taiwan High Speed Rail, the efficiency of land usage is 4 times higher than cars and 2 times higher than buses. It means that the high speed rail has higher efficiency of land usage; besides, it doesn’t exhaust gas. Compared to cars and buses, the high speed rail uses a kind of relatively clean energy.
All in all, Taiwan High Speed Rail is a new attempt to a more advanced world. It creates high speed with the clean energy and uses lesser land. It is truly a pioneering work.