In what year did the Taiwan High Speed Rail begin operation? It began operation in 2007.
Taiwan High Speed Rail opened to passengers on 5 January 2007, initially providing limited commercial service between Banqiao and Zuoying. Full service linking Taipei and Kaohsiung followed in May that year. The railway runs along Taiwan’s densely populated western corridor.
The system is based largely on Japan’s Shinkansen technology and uses THSR 700T trainsets. Its approximately 350-kilometre line was built to shorten journeys between northern and southern Taiwan; trains can reach 300 km/h on the route.
A common mix-up is confusing the railway’s opening year with the start of construction or later station openings. Three additional stations—Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin—opened in 2015, but they did not mark the beginning of THSR service. The first operational trains ran before the entire Taipei–Kaohsiung route had full service.