TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's long-delayed high-speed rail system debuted Friday, its 12-car caravan of streamlined orange-and-white coaches gliding out of a suburban Taipei station right on time at 7 a.m.
"The train is history in the making, and I can't resist being present when history happens," said housewife Liu Wen-ying, 51, before boarding.
Twenty years in the making, the $15 billion system represents a colossal effort to provide a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transport option for Taiwan's 23 million people.
Friday's initial service, which stopped in the central city of Taichung, made the 216-mile journey to the southern city of Kaohsiung in the scheduled time of 90 minutes — 2 1/2 hours faster than the usual train service on that route.
Besides the service that stops in Taichung, another will run on the route making seven stops and taking a half-hour longer. But in the final countdown, some of the problems that have dogged the system for more than a decade were still apparent.
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There were technical glitches Tuesday when the tickets, offered at half-price for a 15-day period, went on sale. Cable TV channels showed angry buyers complaining that they were unable to use credit cards and that the ticket machines gave them the wrong change.
Chairwoman Nita Ing of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp., the operator of the new system, apologized for the setback.
"We are not satisfied with the way things are going," she said. "But the situation will improve day by day."
The project has suffered numerous delays, and concerns have been raised about safety.
Construction began in 2000, aiming for an October 2005 launch date, but delays in the project's core electrical systems forced postponement for a year.
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