Taipei Main Station Commercial Lease Bidding Suspected Leak; TRA Reports to ICAC for Clarification

The bidding process for commercial spaces at Taipei Main Station is embroiled in controversy, with allegations of leaked bidder lists and the premature circulation of evaluation results before the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) officially announced them. Taipei Main Station, with over 600,000 daily passengers, has commercial spaces considered highly profitable. Currently operated by Breeze, the contract is set to expire on July 24th. Following the TRA's announcement of the tender in mid-January, the results were announced at the end of April, with "Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co., Ltd." selected as the highest-ranked applicant and "Breeze Center Development Co., Ltd." as the second highest.

However, during this bidding process, not only was the list of bidding companies leaked, but the evaluation results also circulated in the market before the official announcement by the TRA. Breeze Group, one of the unsuccessful bidders, questioned the potential conflict of interest and leak concerns among the TRA's evaluation committee members, demanding that their scores be excluded. Breeze subsequently submitted a formal letter of objection in early May.

TRA Chairman Cheng Kuang-yuan had previously stated at the end of April that an investigation was underway regarding the leak, with results expected within two weeks. The TRA announced today through a press release that it has investigated internal and external review committee members, working group members, and consultants from the involved company. A preliminary administrative investigation report has been completed. As the suspected source of the leak cannot yet be identified, the entire case has been reported to the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau (ICAC) through the government ethics system for clarification.