Taiwan's Japan-built high-speed trains have yet to become a cash-cow success, but neither are they the disaster critics had once predicted.
As Taiwan marked the first year of the rail system on Jan. 5, bittersweet pride surely ranks high among its founders.
The bitter sprouts from a fiscal shortfall as Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. seeks to dramatically boost ridership from the current 43,000 passengers daily to at least the break-even point.