TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Railway Corporation on Wednesday announced new ticket prices for the first time in decades.

Fares for TRC trains will increase by an average of 26.8% starting in two months, per CNA. The TRC on Wednesday released the new fare tables on its website. 

The TRC board of directors approved the fare increase proposal on Feb. 5, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications' fare review committee passed it on Feb. 21. On April 7, the railroad announced the fare increase would take effect on June 23.

This ticket price adjustment is based on a railway fare rate formula approved by the Legislative Yuan that uses a reasonable rate of return of 0.36% to calculate the price. Taking local trains as an example, the average fare rate after the adjustment will be NT$1.82 (US$0.05) per kilometer, compared to the current rate of NT$1.46 per kilometer.

The railroad released the fare charts for Tze-chiang, Chu-kuang, and local trains on its website Wednesday. Among them, the Tze-Chiang Express fares starting from June are: Taipei-Kaohsiung NT$994, Taipei-Hualien NT$583, and Taipei-Taitung NT$936. 

The Chu-kuang Express fares are: Taipei-Kaohsiung NT$767, Taipei-Hualien NT$450, and Taipei-Taitung NT$722.

The TRC said that because it continues to promote the Cabinet's TPASS commuter pass policy, short-distance commuting and school-going passengers will not be affected by the fare increase. For medium- and long-distance trips, the fare per kilometer decreases with distance, limiting the impact on passengers, said TRC.