【Kaohsiung News】
The Kaohsiung City Government today (June 25) convened experts and scholars to conduct the 2026 Kaohsiung Rail Transit Regular Inspection and Evaluation, with the aim of ensuring the operating safety and service quality of the Kaohsiung Metro and Light Rail systems. Deputy Director-General Liu Chien-Pang of the Transportation Bureau, who served as the convener, stated that as the benefits of the Circular Light Rail’s completed loop continue to grow, Kaohsiung’s rail transit network has connected the needs of commuting, schooling, tourism, medical visits, and daily life. The City Government will continue to strengthen station safety resilience and emergency response capabilities, enabling the rail system to serve as an important support for urban transportation and disaster response.
In this year’s regular inspection and evaluation, the evaluation committee proposed 17 recommendations, covering areas such as the development of diversified branded merchandise to increase the company’s ancillary business revenue, the introduction of equipment operation data into big data analysis to improve operating efficiency, and the speed enhancement of the Light Rail. Regarding the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation’s plan to improve the image quality of its CCTV system through phased replacement and reinstallation, the experts and scholars also recommended continued refinement of facility management, operations dispatching, and service integration. They further suggested enhancing passenger convenience through multimodal transfers so as to attract more people to use public transportation.
KRTC continues to promote measures such as diverse payment options, real-time information through its official app, luggage storage services during events, tourism passes, and commercial development of station spaces. In response to large crowds during concerts, festivals, New Year’s Eve celebrations, and other major events, KRTC has enhanced passenger flow efficiency and riding safety through increased service frequency, on-site staff guidance, passenger flow control, flexible dispatching, and ticket/card use guidance.
In addition, KRTC attaches great importance to personnel training and operational safety management, and continues to implement standard operating procedures, quarterly multi-disaster simulation drills, and enhanced emergency response at stations. In response to the indiscriminate attack incident on Taipei Metro in December 2025, KRTC conducted live-force drills before New Year’s Eve at Kaisyuan Station in late 2025 and at Zuoying Station in the first quarter of 2026. The drills simulated scenarios involving arson by an offender, knife attacks, and passenger hostage-taking, in order to verify cross-agency notification, rescue, arrest, and recovery operations.
Ridership on the Kaohsiung Metro and Light Rail systems continues to grow. In 2025, total passenger trips reached 84,639,937, with average daily ridership of 231,890 passenger trips, an increase of approximately 18,000 daily passenger trips compared with 2024, representing growth of 8.48%. In addition, on December 6, 2025, single-day ridership on the Kaohsiung Metro reached 351,267 passenger trips, setting another annual record high. On the same day, Light Rail ridership also reached 51,000 passenger trips, bringing the combined total to more than 400,000 passenger trips. This demonstrates the continued growth of the integrated benefits generated by major events, tourism and recreation, and public transportation connectivity.
The Transportation Bureau emphasized that it will continue to promote commuter monthly passes and multimodal transfer services, integrating the Metro, Light Rail, city buses, highway buses, ferries, and YouBike. In coordination with the advancement of major rail infrastructure projects, the Bureau will build a convenient, safe, comfortable, and sustainable public transportation network, steadily moving Kaohsiung toward becoming a more livable and safer city.
