‘But, like the United States, there’s no such thing as a high-speed railway in the Philippines. Heck, there’s no railway to speak of except the one inside Festival Mall in Alabang.’
SO it came to pass that I found myself in Taipei the other day en route to Kaohsiung to watch a basketball league participated in by teams from all over the world, including two from the Philippines.
Taipei is in the northern part of the island of Formosa, while Kaohsiung is the largest city in the southernmost portion. How to get from one to the other, I asked myself.
By plane, was my quick reply.
So I checked and I found a flight from Taipei to Kaohsiung. But it was not direct; it had one stop. And that stop was in Hong Kong. Which means that to get to Kaohsiung from Taipei, which would have to be a domestic flight, one needed to take an international flight. Silly, yes?
But there was a very simple reason: the HSR, or High Speed Railway of Taiwan. It serves Taipei (and one more stop north of the city) down to Kaohsiung, and you can get from Taipei to Kaohsiung – a distance of almost 400 kilometers – in about 90 minutes, tops.
That’s like traveling from Manila to Vigan, Ilocos Sur, which would take about six hours. Imagine covering that distance in one and a half hours.
No wonder flying from Taipei to Kaohsiung on a commercial flight doesn’t seem to exist. Airlines would go out of business. The flight might take 30 minutes, but you need to check in at least one hour early. And wait for clearance to take off. And hope for good weather. And assume that your plane is ready to be boarded on time. Meaning, assuming everything goes as planned, flying would take the same length of time as taking the train, sans weather issues, and for sure at a much lower price, even if you choose to get a reserved seat in the Business class section of the HSR.
So why fly indeed?
It didn’t take long before my companions asked the very Filipino question: “Bakit walang ganito sa Pilipinas?” and we all had many answers ranging from corrupt to stupid planners to lack of foresight to “magagalit mga airlines niyan.” But I do remember a time when you could get to Baguio by taking the PNR to Damortis in La Union and then catching a Benguet Auto Line (BAL) bus to Baguio. Travel in style in the process because the PNR train even had a dining car!
Now even the line to Bicol is dead, though last I heard it was being revived.
Think about it – a robust rail network would mean moving people faster from one point to another. It would also solve another problem: cargo trucks on the highways. Because with a rail network, those large 20 or 40-foot shipping containers can be transported to or from our major ports (Manila and Batangas, for example) on a train rather than on trucks. Result? Decongesting our highways.
But, like the United States, there’s no such thing as a high-speed railway in the Philippines. Heck, there’s no railway to speak of except the one inside Festival Mall in Alabang.
No wonder we were enjoying the ride from Taipei to Kaohsiung in comfort — and envy.
When will we ever – within the Philippines – get to leave on a jet train?
