kevincrumbs

A friend of mine who is headed to Tainan from the US texted me to ask for some help last night. In a few weeks, she'll be arriving at TPE on CI 15 from SFO, which is scheduled to land at 20:25. Looking at the HSR timetables, the last train from Taoyuan which stops at Tainan leaves at 22:35. I told her to plan for an hour to get off the plane, get through immigration, grab her checked luggage and go through customs. That would put her at approximately 21:30 but she'd have to wait for the shuttle bus along with a twenty-five minute ride to the station. I've also been looking at the possibility of the highway buses but individual bus companies' websites are poor and the airport website doesn't have specifics in regards to the schedules. In addition, I've been reading that the bus ride down to Tainan is approximately four hours, so the bus doesn't exactly seem like the best idea.

What would people recommend? Is there a decent chance of catching the train or should she plan on spending a night at the airport Novotel/Taoyuan/Taipei?

ProleOnParole

I wanted to write that long-haul flights usually arrive well ahead of schedule but then I looked up this particular flight and it seems it has a really poor on time performance for some reason (not delayed only 65% of the time, average delay 28 ± 25 min):

https://www.flightstats.com/v2/fligh...ting/CI/15/SFO
https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/CAL15

Still even in the worst-case scenario your friend should be able to make it to the high-speed train, which is the best way to travel if cost is not a factor. If the timing is really tight, take a taxi from the airport instead of waiting for the bus.

Should your friend's flight be really delayed, although I think it's quite unlikely, she can rebook to the 23:21 train, which terminates at Taizhong, stay there overnight, and continue the following day, perhaps on a regular train. Schedule:

???? Taiwan High Speed Rail (high-speed rail)
Taiwan Railways Timetable Information System (regular trains)

Note that the Tainan high-speed rail station is not really in the city. Arriving on a regular train, you will find yourself right in the city center.

I suggest to avoid long-distance buses for safety reasons.

bocastephen

I've arrived in the evening and found lines for the HSR shuttle to be at least 10+ buses worth long, and other times found no line, so there is a chance there won't be a line for the shuttle, and a chance it will be brutal. Does your friend speak mandarin?

I would say they have the following options:

1. take the airport metro line to the Taoyuan HSR station
2. take Uber or a taxi to the HSR station
3. don't fret and just overnight at the Novatel (higher cost) or Holiday Inn Express (lower cost, but requires uber or bus transfer)

msb0b

Just in case your friend misses the last THSR train, the highway buses run around the clock. There are many bus operators, but I have always used Ubus when going south of Taoyuan. The ticket counter will sell you a two part ticket: Route 1627 Taoyuan Airport to Zhongli rest area, and Route 1611 Zhongli rest area to Tainan. The fare will be about NT$400. The buses run every 30 to 60 minutes. If you leave the airport at midnight, you might get to Tainan by 4 AM.

To elaborate the previous comment on safety. The onboard safety is fine. Mind your personal belonging and you will be fine. Road safety is usually no problem, but there have been high profile accidents involving tour buses caused by equipment malfunction or driver fatigue.

sinoflyer

Having done this trip just recently (TPE to Tainan, using Taoyuan MRT to get to the Taoyuan HSR station), I would recommend sticking with the old city bus (NT35* I think) to get from the airport terminal to the HSR station. When I took the MRT, I found out that only the local train runs to the HSR station. It is slow** (many stops), and the headway was maddeningly long (I waited for basically the maximum 30 minutes for the next train--heard the "beep beep beep" of the slamming gates just as I was descending the escalator to the platform). Another frustrating thing about how Taoyuan MRT has been managed so far is that it does not have a published schedule other than the first and last departure times of the day. Until the entire Taoyuan MRT line is completed, and that it operates at the promised frequency, I personally will use the bus to the HSR station. YMMV of course.

* Must buy the bus ticket at the operating company's ticket booth, not on the bus -- sorry I don't remember which bus company it is.

glennaa11

If she doesn't absolutely need to arrive in Tainan that night I think overnighting at the Novotel or other option near the airport and taking a train the next morning is probably most sensible.

As noted the Tainan HSR station is a ways out of town so arriving there very late at night and then finding a way into town might or might not be an issue. There's a local train shuttle that runs between the HSR station and the main station in town which is fairly cheap and easy, but I don't know for sure the operating hours. I suspect you could get a taxi though without too much trouble.

kevincrumbs

She doesn't absolutely need to be in Tainan that night and with all the advice on this board, she has decided to spend a night in Taipei (not necessarily in Taoyuan) before heading down to Tainan at some point the next day. I think the HSR station not being in the city centre was the straw that broke the camel's back, even though I told her she could just take a taxi from Taoyuan Airport to the Taoyuan HSR station.

Thank you all for your help and advice.

Taipei

Yes, I agree MRT is a bad choice, slow and I also found long waits. Taxi or bus is my options now. There is also one stop service from PDX (via NRT) to KHH which I have used.

bzcat

I'm just replying for the benefit of people searching this thread later

The airport MRT line operates every 7.5 minutes with express and local trains alternating. The airport to HSR station portion is only operated by the local train so the service interval is 15 minutes.

The airport to HSR station bus is operated by UBus line 705. Purchase the ticket at UBus counter at the airport bus transit centers located at each terminal.

Map and fare info:


UBus ticket counter at Terminal 2 bus transit center



705 bus bay at terminal 1



705 bus bay at Taoyuan HSR station