I do not question any of your observations bizclassboy as I have found the HSR laden with problems, after my initial trip.
The HSR was private because they didn't want to cost the provincial government any money. Well look at the debt they are racking up now and I'll bet you anybody working there wishes they were subsidized by the government, who doesn't want anything to do with them.
Plus, being private meant that they could pull ridiculous land deals as you have mentioned and place their stations in the middle of bumfu** nowhere. That is not a myth. The biggest evidence of this is the Taichung station, as the track passes through metropolitan Taichung, only for the station to be in the middle of nowhere.
The shuttles to and from CKS airport are a joke and the audacity that they charge you for this is also pretty ludicrous.
The shuttles that THEY provide have frequency every 15 mins while a similar service in Hong Kong has their frequency for EVERY bus UNDER 10 mins.
The reservation systems for me particularly upon future usage was a complete insult. I may look Chinese/Taiwanese/whatever the hell ethnicity that has black hair and dark brown eyes but I am NOT neccsarily a Taiwanese citizen. So why can't they develop a system that doesn't force the person to enter their Taiwanese citizen's card number? And everytime I have to deal with an 800 person, surprise they don't understand alpha numerical characters (since they ask me to put in my US passport number: seriously this is NOT a safe option). I have to go to the station, possibly risk NOT being able to get a ticket? Seriously the biggest piece of half-assed planning ever. [/endrant]
It's kind of like, well Hong Kong has a GREAT mass transit system, let's mirror after their's. Only we'll do it OUR way, with OUR system, with cards that have to be put upside down to be scanned, oh we'll definitely match Hong Kong's Airport Express!
I had reported this previously as my inaugural trip on the HSR, since then I have made two more trips and quickly found it to lack any value whatsoever.