Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation will add eight southbound trains every Friday evening between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., with nearly all cars offering non-reserved seating, in response to record holiday ridership that left some reserved-ticket passengers struggling to board.

The additional services, announced by THSRC on Sept. 28, will depart from Nangang or Taipei and terminate at Taichung, adding two trains per hour across the four-hour evening peak, according to CNA. Only business-class cars on these trains will keep reserved seating.

Why is THSRC acting now?

The operator is responding to severe crowding during the Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers' Day holiday period. A record 347,970 passengers used the high-speed line on Sept. 24 alone, Economic Daily News reported, and nearly 1.79 million traveled between Sept. 24 and 29.

Crowding was worst north of Taichung, the section THSRC identifies as the busiest for unreserved passengers. The crush affected not only standing travelers but also holders of reserved seats, some of whom nearly missed their trains. Business-class passengers complained that unreserved-ticket holders had entered their cars during the peak.

How will the operator squeeze out more capacity?

Alongside the extra Friday services, THSRC will change how it turns trains around. Trains will reverse direction directly at station platforms before re-entering service, cutting turnaround times so that return journeys begin within roughly 12 minutes, TVBS News reported. THSRC says this will reduce waiting times for northbound passengers.

Before the regular Friday pattern begins, the operator will trial the arrangement during the National Day holiday travel period on Thursday, when two extra southbound trains per hour will run to Taichung and selected services will carry nine to 11 cars with unreserved seating.

The holiday package also includes:

• a late-night train added on Thursday;
• an extra northbound service on Friday.

What happens next?

THSRC frames these measures as interim capacity relief. The operator expects the measures to bridge demand growth until new trains enter service in July next year, CTEE reported.

Until those arrivals expand the fleet, the Friday non-reserved pattern and faster platform turnarounds will carry the burden of absorbing peak demand on the 350 km Taipei–Kaohsiung corridor, where holiday load factors have already pushed the network to single-day records.