The Taiwan High Speed Rail (台灣高速鐵路, also known as the THSR) is Taiwan's high-speed rail network, running approximately 335.50 kilometers (208 mi) from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City, which began operations on January 5, 2007. Adopting Japan's Shinkansen technology for the core system, the THSR uses the Taiwan High Speed 700T train, manufactured by a consortium of Japanese companies, most notably Kawasaki Heavy Industries[1]. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be US$15 billion,[2] and is the one of the largest privately funded transport schemes to date. Express trains capable of travelling at up to 300 km/h (186 mph)[3] travel from Taipei City to Kaohsiung City in roughly 90 minutes as opposed to 4.5 hours by conventional rail[4], although regular scheduled THSR trains take approximately two hours when incorporating all the stops.
