Taiwan high-speed rail steams toward Xmas launch

TAOYUAN, Taiwan, Nov 30 (Reuters) A super-fast rail line, the world's second to use ground-breaking Japanese bullet train technology, is steering towards a year-end service launch in Taiwan after years of delays.

''We expect to have a Christmas gift'' for the people of Taiwan, said Samuel Lin, deputy chief operating officer for the line's builder, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp, at one of the line's first test drives for the public today.

''We hope our contribution is not only to give convenience to the public. It's another kind of revolutionary development.'' Nearly a decade in the making, the line and its sister line in Japan are the world's fastest using conventional rails, with top speeds of up to 315 kilometres per hour.

The world's fastest commercial train, which uses magnetic levitation technology, is a line capable of speeds of more than 400 kph connecting downtown Shanghai with its suburban airport.

Travel on the Taiwan train's main route, connecting the island's top two cities of Taipei in the north with Kaohsiung in the south, takes some 90 minutes to cover 345 km (214 miles), much less than the current five hours on existing rail service.

During a test run today -- one of the first times the line has been open to outsiders -- the train flew along its north-to-south route, whizzing past rice fields and palm trees.

Inside the train that seats up to 989, the compartments are quiet and comfortable, much like the line's Japanese counterpart.

In sharp contrast, the train's ride to the present has been anything but smooth, involving numerous cost overruns resulting in a 15 billion dollar price tag. Technical issues have also dogged the project, including two minor derailments -- both attributed to human error -- in recent weeks during trial runs.

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