Taiwan High Speed Rail carried 348,000 passengers on Thursday, September 24, setting a single-day ridership record on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend.

The figure surpasses the previous high of 338,000, set during the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival, as reported by UDN. Southbound traffic exceeded 200,000 passengers in a single day for the first time in the operator's history.

The four-day holiday runs Friday through Monday, combining the Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers' Day.

How is the operator responding?

Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. is running 1,150 train services between September 24 and 29. The schedule includes:

• 176 extra trains — 70 southbound and 106 northbound;
• two additional all-non-reserved southbound trains to absorb peak demand.

The added capacity targets the holiday surge on the 350 km Taipei–Kaohsiung corridor, Taiwan's principal intercity axis.

What is happening on the highways?

The national freeway bureau projected total holiday traffic of 105 million to 120 million vehicle-kilometers over the long weekend. The first day's southbound flow alone was expected to reach about 69 million vehicle-kilometers — roughly 1.5 times a typical weekday, according to Nownews.

On Friday morning, overall traffic volume on national highways ran about 8% higher than in the same period last year. Accidents contributed to a 10.5-kilometer backup on National Highway 5 that spilled onto National Highway 3.

What does the record signal for the year?

THSRC has projected about 83.9 million passengers for 2026, according to its 2025 Annual Report. The forecast continues a multi-year upward trend the company attributes to economic growth, digital ticketing and expanded service.

The single-day record of 348,000, measured against the 338,000 peak of 2023, is a confirmed result. The 83.9 million annual figure remains a projection that the holiday's demand strength will test as the operator continues adding services through the remainder of the year.