1st New-Type Shinkansen Train Delivered to Taiwan

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Aug. 16 (Jiji Press)--A new-type Shinkansen train, manufactured in Japan, has been delivered to Taiwan for the first time.

On Saturday, the 12 N700ST train cars, which feature iconic orange and black lines on a white body, were unloaded from a cargo ship at at a port in Kaohsiung, southwestern Taiwan.

At the delivery ceremony, Taiwan's transport minister Chen Shih-kai said that the train is not just a new vehicle but a symbol of future industrial and urban development.

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. has ordered 12 such trains, each with 12 cars, to put into service in stages from July 2027. The new trains are expected to increase peak-time transport capacity by 25 pct.

A Japanese consortium of Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. has received the 124-billion-yen order. "We are confident that (the train) will contribute to the development of Taiwanese society," Takuya Yamakawa, head of the consortium, said at the ceremony.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]