Friday, November 07, 2014

Taiwan Trip 2014 - Day 3- Taichung to Taipei by High Speed Rail Train

Time for us to depart Taichung to Taipei. As mentioned earlier, KUN Hotel provided special rates for transport to the Taichung HSR station,Taichung Railway Station,Bus Station or airport only for guests who booked rooms online(in our case we booked thru Agoda.com).Guests can use this service with the special rate only once.

So after breakfast we requested the hotel staff to call a cab for us to Taichung HSR Station. The ride was about 15 minutes from the hotel to the HSR Station. We had booked our HSR tickets online prior to our arrival to Taiwan. We booked off peak period so got a 35% discount on our HSR tickets. Without the discount, the HSR ticket would costs NT765 but after the 35% discount is was only NT495 per adult. Will post more details on how to book the HSR tickets online in next post. Really save a lot.

Really going to miss KUN Hotel, is really a very nice hotel, oh remember the free cookies on the table in the lobby, took one of each different cookies to eat in the train lol. Highly recommend you to stay in this nice, clean and cozy hotel. BYE BYE Kun Hotel, will stay here again if I ever visit Taichung.

On arrival at the Taichung HSR Station, we queued at the ticket counter to collect our tickets. Remember to print the email confirmation from Taiwan High Speed Rail with the reservation number and to show proof of identity i.e. your passport when collecting the tickets.

Time table of both northbound (towards taipei) and southbound (towards kaoshiung) trains.

You can view the timetable from the official website of Taiwan High Speed Rail.

Click for Southbound train timetable (Taipei to Kaoshiung)

Click for Northbound train timetable(Kaoshiung to Taipei)

From the ticket, you can view the train number and the time but no indication on which platform, so you have to look out from the screen to be at the correct platform. There were be two languages, Mandarin and English.

Once the platform is certain, go up the escalator to the correct platform and wait for the train.

Do not just board any train that arrived. Looked at the screen above indicating the train number and time before boarding any train.

On the outside of the train, there's a small window indicating the train number and destination.

Go to the correct car/cabin to locate your seat. At the end of each cabin there's storage space for large suitcases but space is limited. Best to bring small suitcases where you can store at the overhead storage space. Do not place your large suitcase along the aisle cause the service crew will push the food/beverage cart along the aisle.

Next post: How to book THSR tickets online.

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