Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSR) wants the government to let it operate the island's bullet-train network for at least 75 years so that it can cut its some $13 billion in debt, and expects profits for the next two years that will allow it to launch a public share offer.
Chairman and Chief Executive Ou Chin-der told Reuters in an interview that its current 35-year operating concession is the shortest worldwide, noting that Eurotunnel, for example, has 99 year rights for its rail link between Britain and France.
The company operates a single 345 km route linking the capital Taipei with the southern port city of Kaohsiung, with its Japanese-made trains making the journey in about one third the time of regular rail services.
But the THSR has accumulated losses of nearly T$70 billion ($2.3 billion) since it began operations in 2007, mainly due to high depreciation costs. Its shares currently trade on one of Taiwan's smaller stock exchanges.
Depreciation costs could fall to T$7 billion to T$8 billion this year, compared with T$10.6 billion originally, if its operating rights were extended, Ou said.
THSR managed its first profit of T$1.98 billion in the first half of 2011, after booking losses each year since it started.
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