HSR Extension and Europe Anti-Tourism

News Bites

Welcome back to another episode of News Bites! I'm Paz Bueno. And I'm Brody Halverson. In today's news: An HSR extension will be decided by year's end, and why Europe has become an epicenter for anti-tourism this summer. And in today's Tasty Tidbit… what's the shortest airplane trip you can take? Stay tuned for more on those stories, coming up next. ________________________________ 交通部年底前決定高鐵南延路線 HSR Extension to be Decided by Year's End The Taiwan High Speed Railway opened in 2007. Since then, traveling between Taipei and Kaohsiung has become more time efficient and affordable (負擔得起的). While the HSR runs along the west coast of Taiwan, there is one county that it doesn't reach (到達), Pingtung. If Pingtung residents (居民) want to go to Taipei, they have to drive or take public transportation to the Zuoying HSR station in Kaohsiung. Both transportations methods (交通方式) take between 40 minutes to an hour. Over the years, authorities (有關當局) have been discussing whether to extend the HSR into Pingtung. And there is finally some good news for the local residents! The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that a decision to extend the HSR to Pingtung is expected to be finalized before the end of the year. 交通部表示，高鐵延伸到屏東預計在年底之前決定。 They also mentioned that the extension may include a stop in urban (市區) Kaohsiung. In the current proposal (提案), there will be two stops in Pingtung County. The extension might also extend to Taitung in the future. Building a railway network around Taiwan has always been the goal of THSRC. The Taiwan Railway (台鐵) has already completed the train tracks around Taiwan. However, traveling to the east by train still takes a few hours. The HSR would be able to cut the train trip in half! As for the northeastern extension of the HSR, it was already been approved in 2020. The northeastern extension will run from Nangang to Yilan. The line will be 56.4 kilometers long and the travel time will take only 18 minutes. This is great news for commuters (通勤者) between Taipei and Yilan. Construction of the northeastern extension is expected to be completed in 2036. ________________________________ 歐洲今年暑假為何成為"反旅遊"中心 Why Europe has Become an Epicenter for Anti-Tourism This Summer Over the last 30 years, traveling abroad (出國旅遊) has become more and more common. Then the COVID-19 pandemic (疫情) happened, and the world was almost still (停頓下來) for 3 years. People around the world could only stay in their countries and homes. When travel restrictions (限制) were lifted, millions flocked out of (湧出) their countries to travel. This phenomenon (現象) was called "revenge travel (報復性旅遊)," an act of taking a trip that wasn't able to happen due to the pandemic. This contributed to (導致) a situation that has been happening over the years, "overtourism (過度旅遊)." Anti-tourism protests (反旅遊抗議) have been sweeping across (橫掃) Europe this summer. These protests took place in the Netherlands, Greece, and Spain. Thousands of local residents took part in the protests. They are protesting about rising rents and house prices in popular travel destinations, which is also their home. The pattern is also happening in other European cities. Locals are blaming the increasing costs on mass (大量) tourism. However, there are experts that don't agree with this theory. Martins, an expert in sustainable tourism (永續旅遊), said that the locals are not happy because they do not benefit (獲益) from the tourism in their area. So, what can authorities do? Zenker, a professor in tourism at Copenhagen business school, offered a solution. He said that the money that is made by tourism should be invested locally (投資在當地). Wages should be raised and more jobs should be offered to local residents. It looks like this is happening around the world. The protests might not cease (停止) until the problem is solved. ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites: A decision to extend the HSR to Pingtung is expected to be finalized before the end of the year. The railway will be extended into Pingtung, and another station might be added in Kaohsiung. ________________________________ And, Europe has become an epicenter for anti-tourism this summer. Locals are protesting about overtourism all over Europe. They are protesting about rising rents and house prices in popular travel destinations, which is also their home. ________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit Hey Brody, what's the longest flight you've ever been on? Probably Taipei to Los Angeles. What about you? The longest flight I've been on is from Taipei to New York. It takes around 15 hours! Have you heard about the shortest flight in the world? No, how short is it? It's only 2.8 kilometers long, between two tiny islands in Scotland. That's a short distance! How long does the flight take? The flight can take as little as 53 seconds! The whole trip, including taxiing, takes around two minutes. If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [e-mail], and you might hear it at the end of an episode! We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!