Japan and China have been fiercely vying to win contracts for high-speed rail projects in Asian countries.
For years, Taiwan has been operating a high-speed train service based on Japan's bullet train system. It is Japan's first shinkansen export. But saddled with huge losses, the Taiwanese high-speed rail operator has recently decided to accept a government bailout in hopes of turning its troubled business around.
Yet, the railway's financial health is increasingly uncertain.
Taiwan High Speed Rail has been in service since 2007, connecting the island's northern city of Taipei with the southern city of Kaohsiung in as little as an hour and a half.
A consortium of seven Japanese companies, including trading house Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, worked together to deliver the system to Taiwan.
The rolling stock is based on N700 series used in Tokaido and Sanyo shinkansen.
Taiwan High Speed Rail prides itself on its smooth service and a comfortable ride experience. Yet it has been in deep financial trouble.
A Taiwanese general contractor and other businesses formed a consortium and later incorporated as THSR to build and operate the railway for 35 years. After that, the company is to concede operations to Taiwan authorities under a build-operate-transfer scheme.
The venture has shouldered total costs of 480 billion New Taiwan dollars ($14.6 billion), half of which covers civil engineering expenses. Depreciation and interest payments have been weighing heavily on the company. "Observers have noted that it would be difficult to turn a profit anytime soon, whoever undertook the project," said a Japanese company representative familiar with the matter.
What's worse, poor passenger traffic estimates have damaged the company's balance sheet. Based on a consultancy's survey results and other data, the company expected 240,000 passengers a day in 2008. In 2014, daily passenger traffic came to just over 130,000, far below the initial estimate.
With bleak prospects for a turnaround, THSR has turned to the government for a bailout. The company reduced its capital by 60% at the end of October and has set out to eliminate cumulative losses worth as much as NT$47.2 billion as of the end of June. A government-affiliated investment fund and other businesses will inject NT$30 billion into the company at the end of this year. The move will boost the government's stake to about 64% from about 37% currently.
In September, THSR's financial restructuring plan was approved at an extraordinary shareholders meeting. "This will help solidify the foundations of our long-lasting management," THSR Chairman Liu Wei-chi said at the meeting. Some investors, angry that the capital reduction will cause them losses, tried to shout him down.
The company in December will likely have to cut fares by nearly 10% in exchange for the financial bailout. "In the future, THSR will need to get approval from the Yuan, Taiwan's legislature, when it wants to raise fares," said professor Chang Sheng-hsiung of Tamkang University. "That will make it more difficult to put the company's troubled finances back in order."
Some observers point out that the railway has been politicized from the start. When the Kuomintang, the current ruling party, was in opposition from 2000 to 2008, it clashed with the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party over a proposed THSR management improvement plan.
Analysts predict that the DPP will likely replace the Kuomintang in a presidential election slated for January. When that happens, THSR's management could face still more uncertainty.
(Nikkei)