Taiwan Railway defends Taipei Main Station mall bidding process
台鐵捍衛台北車站商場競標過程
| TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Railways responded Wednesday to the controversy over its decision to award a bid for the shopping mall at Taipei Main Station after the current operator threatened legal action.
Taiwan Railway Chair Cheng Kuang-yuan (鄭光遠) said the bidding process that selected Shin Kong Mitsukoshi for the project was conducted in accordance with the law. He said any bidder with objections has the right to raise them and the company will respond accordingly, per SETN. The current mall operator, Breeze Group, has challenged the results after losing the bid by one point. It tied for second place with JRE SC Development Taiwan, along with Ruentex Development. Breeze said it has already filed a formal objection, questioning the fairness and transparency of the evaluation process. It is considering filing an administrative lawsuit. Breeze claimed that the evaluation results circulated before the official announcement. In addition, it questioned whether review committee members were qualified and if there was a conflict of interest. Public attention has also focused on the absence of one review committee member during the presentation of the results due to a business trip. The railway said eight of the nine committee members were present, meeting regulatory requirements for the review process, per SETN. According to the railway, the selection committee consisted of five external and four internal members. Addressing concerns over a possible leak of the results, Cheng reiterated the announcement was made in accordance with established procedures. Cheng acknowledged Breeze’s long-term operation of the Taipei Main Station mall, saying the company had established a solid foundation. He declined to elaborate on how Shin Kong Mitsukoshi outscored Breeze Group, saying the outcome reflected the judgment of the review committee. |
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| Sean Scanlan Taiwan News, Staff Writer | |
| 2026-04-29 |
