Railway Bento Festival Showcases Over 80 Varieties, Expected to Generate NT$50 Million in Revenue

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 5th) The Railway Bento Festival opened today at Taipei Main Station. With 64 exhibitors and over 80 types of bento boxes on sale, a record high, TRA Chairman Cheng Kuang-yuan invited the public to participate enthusiastically. The TRA estimates that the Taipei and Kaohsiung events will attract over 600,000 visitors and generate business opportunities exceeding NT$50 million.

The 11th Railway Bento Festival is being held for four consecutive days starting today at the多功能展演廳 (Multifunctional Exhibition Hall) of Taipei Main Station. The event features several NT$999 bento boxes made with premium ingredients such as eel, giant grouper, and sashimi-grade scallops, packaged with a wooden box and stainless steel inner container or a fine ceramic pot, available in limited quantities. Also on offer is a special bento from JR Hokkaido's Hakodate-Hokuto station, priced at NT$1,100, which comes in a ceramic bento box shaped like the Fuku Shokudo No. 135 track inspection car.

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Sheng-yuan attended the opening ceremony and stated, "Railways are a vital artery for national development, and railway bento boxes are the warmest and most relatable presence within that artery. They have accompanied generations of passengers on their life journeys and recorded the changes in Taiwanese society and the scenery of life. From the past of vendors hawking bento boxes on platforms and the round aluminum pork chop lunch boxes on trains to the diverse bento boxes on display today, this is the most touching part of Taiwan's railway history."

Chairman Cheng said, "The Railway Bento Festival has entered its 11th year and is an important platform for emotional connection between the TRA and countless people. Each bento box and each dish carries shared memories of journeys and records the history of Taiwan's railway culture."

Cheng pointed out that this year's theme is "A New Era of Bento Journeys." Standing at the new starting point of the TRA's transformation, he described the company's future blueprint as a "necklace of five pearls," with safety as the core, perfectly linking these five pearls together.

On the stable foundation of its core transportation business, Cheng stated that the TRA is actively developing peripheral industries such as asset development, TRA Bento, TRA Dream Workshop, rail tourism, and TRA Holidays. He said the Bento Festival is the best stage to showcase the charm of this "necklace of five pearls" and is a concrete realization of the mutually reinforcing and value-creating relationship between the rail economy and rail tourism. He mentioned that this year, the TRA is collaborating with partners from all sectors through the three aspects of heritage, innovation, and sustainability, allowing everyone to rediscover the value of railway bento boxes.

Deputy Minister Wu noted that this year's Railway Bento Festival has a record number of exhibitors, including brands from Japan, international participants, and cross-domain brands from various sectors. This allows Taiwan's railway culture to go global and lets the world see Taiwan's creativity and strength through its bento boxes.

This year's Railway Bento Festival features 64 exhibitors and over 80 types of bento boxes on site, a new record. The TRA estimates that the Taipei event, combined with the earlier Kaohsiung event, will attract over 600,000 visitors, with total business opportunities exceeding NT$50 million. (Editor: Kuan Chung-wei) 1150605