The odd thing was it felt far, far slower - and many times safer - than either of the other modes of transport.

A pre-schooler happily stood in the aisle for much of the journey chatting to his dad without needing to hold onto anything to steady himself.

There’s very little rattle and shake and the semi-industrial, semi-rural landscape that makes up the journey doesn’t appear to be passing by any quicker than it would on a stretch of open highway.

The seats in economy class are similar to in a plane but with less padding and far, far more legroom.

Everyone is required to wear a mask except when eating. There’s no seatbelts - apparently none of the world’s fast trains use seatbelts as the risks of a crash are so low.

The 160 km journey took about 50 minutes. The Rome2Rio site estimates the same journey by car would 2 hours 11 minutes.

The ticket costs T$700 (NZ$37) or you can opt to travel business class for T$1250 (NZ$66.)

With the train departing and arriving at central rail stations on a very regular basis they offer a convenience and comfort unmatchable by plane, car or bus.

There's no need to book and at peak times a train leaves about every 20 minutes.

The 349 km journey from Nangang to Zuoying can be done in just one hour and 45 minutes although most trips take two hours and 10 minutes.

Rome2Rio estimates the same journey by car would take three hours 40 minutes and cost significantly more. Flying is estimated to take the same as by road and cost between seven and 120 times the cost of rail.

In 2019 the fast trains carried 67.41 million passengers.

When it was completed in 2007 the high speed system cost US$15 billion (NZ$26 billion).

Taichung by Ubike

In the time it took me to count 50 scooters driving past me on a street in Taichung, I counted 12 cars and just four bicycles. Three of those four bikes were Ubikes, the park and ride system that operates in cities across Taiwan.

Unlike the Onzo bikes that once littered the footpaths of cities in New Zealand, the Ubikes are operated on a lock and dock basis.

There are  Ubike “stations” on most blocks often close to subway stations.

Rides of under an hour in Taichung are free whereas in Taipei the first 30 minutes will cost you T$5 (NZ 26 cents), T$10 per half hour for the next three and a half hours and then T$20 for each half hour after that.

Ron Hanson

I’d felt a bit nervous about navigating both the registration process and the fast flowing streets of Taipei, so was delighted when Kiwi expat Ron Hanson offered to take me out for a ride on one in Taichung where he lives.

Ron is a sort of unofficial New Zealand cultural ambassador in Taiwan. 

He is a part-time English teacher and co-founder, with his brother Mark, of White Fungus art magazine. Ron exudes enthusiasm for the culture, language and art of his adopted home.

The first issue of White Fungus in three years - which  sells everywhere from Wellington and Sydney to Taipei and Tokyo to New York, Barcelona and London - rolled off the presses last week and currently being bound.

The magazine, which began as a one-off protest zine against the Wellington by-pass in 2004, has evolved into a truly eclectic product that defies categorisation.

The latest issue includes a beautifully illustrated story on the impact of global warming on bats by Kiwi journalist Tessa Laird and an intriguing story on Taitung’s gangster god: Bombing Lord Han Dan.

Anyway, back to those Ubikes. Like most Taiwanese residents Ron has a motor scooter but often chooses to use a Ubike for short rides.

Checking out a bike simply involves placing your travel card on a handlebar mounted display and pulling the bike out of the dock.

The bikes, manufactured by Taiwanese cycle behemoth Giant, are utilitarian but they’re a quality product - a far cry from the single-speed, plastic cheap and nasty Onzo bikes.

From memory the Onzo bikes were said to cost about US$50 by comparison the Ubikes cost US$300.

With a three speed internal hub at the back and a dynamo hub up front, which powers the always on front and back lights, Ubikes provide an upright ride for people of all shapes and sizes. 

It’s a supremely comfortable ride. The step through set up combined with what is in effect a dropper post helps with the stop start nature of urban riding in Taiwan.

Helmets aren’t required and I’m yet to see cyclist wearing one - despite the streets feeling far, far more dangerous than your typical urban street in New Zealand. (Our 100km highways are a different matter - being among the most treacherous roads I’ve seen anywhere)

There’s no noticeable gap between the genders in terms of ridership but if I had to guess I would say they’re more popular with women.

Above: Transit card

Cyclists are not only tolerated on footpaths here - it seems to be actively encouraged with pedestrian crossings being curbless to facilitate a smooth ride.

The three-speed internal gearbox is perfect for flat streets of Taipei and Taichung but all but the strongest riders would struggle going up a decent sized hill.

Bikonnect - the Giant subsidiary - had an e-bike version of the Ubikes on display at Taipei Cycle and sales manager Tim Su told me they were in discussions with cities internationally to role them out.

Unlike the Onzo bikes, Ubikes are seen as an integrated part of the public transport system - requiring public subsidies to maximise their potential.

The most common explanations for the small number of Taiwanese choosing bicycles as an urban commuting option are the need to mix it up with motor vehicles on the busy streets and the heat.

E-bike versions of the Ubike could help with both: enabling faster speeds with less effort.

Four wheels good, two wheels easier to park

Finding a car park in Taipei must be a nightmare. There’s barely any street level parking and I haven’t noticed a single parking building.

That no doubt explains the popularity of motor scooters.

A local tells me that everyone he knows owns a scooter but only a few own a bicycle. 

You see parents with two or three kids riding them. Old, young, male and female. Apparently they’re shunned by the rich who prefer cars but for everyone else the scooter is the urban motorised vehicle of choice.

In New Zealand I doubt there’s ever been as many motorcycles riding in convoy as you regularly see take off from the lights during rush hour.

At major intersections when the light turns green there’s a deafening cacophony of revving motors as dozens and dozens - at one intersection I stopped counting at 100 - take off.

An innovative Taiwanese company is determined to change that: not the numbers, the noise.

Gogoro is a motor scooter company with a difference. It started life as a battery manufacturer and in an effort to increase sales created its on scooter.

In 2007 Israeli start-up Better Place got acres of coverage in the world's media with its plan for a battery swapping scheme for EVs. A nation-wide distribution system was going to eliminate the need for charging and massively speed up the process. It went bankrupt in 2013.

EVs are notable more for their relative absence in Taiwan than anything else. They do seem to be making inroads in the taxi and Uber driver markets. Two of my about 10 taxi journeys have been in Teslas.

But electric scooters are a different story. They’re still a long way from being the norm but they’re a significant player, making up 12% of the scooters on the road - with 90% of those using Gogoro batteries.

Gogoro has a network of stations around Taiwan that swap about 400,000 batteries a day for around 526 owners of Gogoro scooters.

Home charging isn’t an option for most apartment-dwelling Taiwanese scooter owners.

And Gogoro is more than simply a battery and now scooter manufacturer, it describes itself as an integrated network.

If your scooter is damaged a message is sent to the nearest service centre with information about the parts required for repair.

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Jeremy Rose is currently in Taiwan and travelled there with assistance from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Taiwan diary: Getting there

Taiwan diary: Bicycle Kingdom