Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) is considering a major investment of more than NT$200 billion (US$6.36 billion) to modernize its rail infrastructure following a signaling failure that caused widespread disruption across the network last month.
An incident on May 25, traced to a malfunctioning power module in switch machine controllers (SMCs) on a network section, led to the cancellation of 34 train services and delayed a further 113 services by more than five minutes.
More than 114,900 passengers were affected by the disruption, with 66,161 travelers eligible for compensation.
The incident comes as Taiwan’s high-speed rail system continues to experience strong demand. In 2025, THSRC carried approximately 78 million passengers, reinforcing its position as one of Asia’s most heavily used high-speed rail networks and a vital transportation link for domestic tourism and business travel.
Speaking during a briefing to lawmakers, THSRC Chairman Shih Che said the company is reviewing long-term investment plans to ensure the reliability of a network that has now been operating for more than 20 years.
“Although many core assets were designed with a service life of 35 years, we are evaluating whether key equipment should be upgraded earlier than originally planned to maintain stable and reliable operations,” Shih said.
The investigation about the technical failure is being conducted jointly by THSRC, the equipment manufacturer, the Railway Technical Research and Certification Center, and specialists from the Railway Technology Center at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology.
In the meantime, the operator has introduced a three-phase improvement plan aimed at strengthening maintenance and emergency response procedures.
Short-term measures focus on identifying the root cause of the malfunction and preventing a recurrence. Medium-term initiatives include enhanced overnight maintenance operations, faster deployment of engineering teams during incidents, and improved monitoring of critical infrastructure.
THSRC also plans to expand its use of big data analytics to support real-time decision-making and provide passengers with more accurate service updates during disruptions.
Despite the scale of the incident, the company maintained reduced operations by running three trains per hour in each direction, enabling it to carry around 90% of normal daily passenger volumes.
THSRC noted that only three company-related incidents last year resulted in delays exceeding 30 minutes, a performance level it said compares favorably with Japan’s famous Shinkansen network.
