Taiwan's high-speed railway system linking Taipei and the southern city of Kaohsiung will probably not start on schedule next October due to delays in adjusting the Japanese bullet train system to European specifications.
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp., operator of the system, decided in 1997 to adopt a European system combining German locomotives and French double-decker passenger cars.
But in late 1999, THSRC changed tack and instead awarded a group of Japanese companies the priority rights to negotiate the contract.