A. Lu and A. Marsh Page 1 of 25 1 TRB Paper Manuscript #11-1301 2 Zen and the Art of Commuter Rail Operations: 3 Taiwan Railways Administration’s Design, Operations, and Philosophy 4 5 Alex Lu*, Amanda N. Marsh 6 * Corresponding author 7 8 Alex Lu 9 Operations Planning, New York City Transit, 10 2 Broadway, Cubicle A17.111, New York, N.Y. 10004-2208 11 Tel: (646) 252-5664 12 Email:
[email protected] 13 14 Amanda N. Marsh 15 Freelance Writer and Photographer, 16 P.O. Box 406, Islip, N.Y. 11751-0406 17 Tel: (631) 277-6514 18 Email:
[email protected] 19 20 Word Count: 246 (Abstract) + 6,010 (Text) + 5 × 250 (Figures) = 7,506 Words 21 22 23 ABSTRACT 24 This paper offers a review of ideas and practices making Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) 25 unique and distinctively different to North American commuter railroads, based on two weeks’ field 26 observation, published sources, authors’ cultural knowledge, and discussions with locals. Unlike most 27 transit systems, TRA accommodates different trip purposes and train types on shared railway 28 infrastructure, covering areas with varying traffic densities, travel needs, and geographic features. As an 29 importer of railway technology, to meet diverse requirements, and because of incremental and stop-gap 30 measures devised in response to capital budget restrictions, TRA has needed to embrace, operate, and 31 maintain a wide assortment of different standards and procedures. This willingness to accept outside 32 designs and consider functionality/cost/simplicity trade-offs when addressing specific needs resulted in 33 constantly varying daily routines for management, staff, and customers.