Rail transport in Taiwan

There are two railway systems that provide intercity transportation service in Taiwan:

Name	Taiwan Railways	Taiwan High Speed Rail
Logo
Chinese	臺灣鐵路	台灣高速鐵路
Service type	Conventional railway	High-speed railway
Open date	1891-10-20	2007-01-05
Gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Lines	13	1
Stations	228	12
System length	1,065 km (662 mi)	349.5 km (217 mi)

The Taiwan Railways is administered by the governmental agency Taiwan Railways Administration. TRA operates both passenger service and the only freight service in the country. The main lines form a loop around the island that connect most of the country's major cities, with small branch lines at various points to the interior. TRA operates both intercity trains throughout Taiwan, and commuter services into the major cities. The Taiwan High Speed Rail is operated by a franchised private company called Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, it contains passenger services between Nangang, Taipei and Zuoying, Kaohsiung with a route that runs through Western Taiwan.

TRA train passing over the Kaoping Bridge in Kaohsiung

A TRA Taroko Express train stands at Toucheng Station as another pulls alongside

A THSR train on a test run in 2006

A TRA Tzu-Chiang Limited Express at Tainan Station

Taipei

New Taipei

Taoyuan

Kaohsiung

Cities of Taiwan with rapid transit system.

Urban rail transit systems are managed by local governments. There are currently four operators and one system under construction.

Most of the urban rail transit systems use standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in), except Taipei Metro Wenhu line, which uses VAL system with 1,880 mm (6 ft 2 in) track gauge. The main line of Taoyuan Metro is called the Taoyuan Airport MRT, which connects Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan's largest airport, with Taipei and Zhongli, Taoyuan. In addition to the five systems above, there were also plans to built rapid transit systems in municipalities of Tainan and Hsinchu. However, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications declined the proposals in January 2010 for budget issues and deeming it premature.[4] Recently, most plans of new urban rail transit system plans have adopted light rail for budget efficiency.

Xiaobitan Station on the Taipei Metro

Formosa Boulevard Station's "Dome of Light" on the Kaohsiung MRT

Formosa Express tourist train

Industrial railways were built mainly in the Japanese era for transporting industrial raw materials and products, especially sugarcanes for sugar industry, and lumber for wood industry in Taiwan. After the World War II, these industries declined significantly and these railroads were remodeled as tourist attractions in the beginning of 21st century.[5][6][7]

Name	Taiwan Sugar Railways	Taiwan Forest Railways
Chinese	臺灣糖業鐵路	臺灣森林鐵路
Owner	Taiwan Sugar Corporation	Forestry Bureau
Logo
Date opening	1906	1912
Gauge	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)	762 mm (2 ft 6 in)
No. of Lines	1 industrial line, 5 tourist lines	4 tourist lines

The Taiwan Sugar Railways is an extensive series of narrow gauge lines mostly in central and southern Taiwan, originally built to haul sugarcane by the sugar companies in Japanese era, but also capable of providing limited passenger service. Regular passenger services discontinued in 1982. In 2003, some short-distance train services resumed. Currently there are six lines in operations.[8]

Only Magongcuo line in Huwei Sugar Refinery is still under industrial use, other five lines have been transformed to heritage railways.

The Forest Railways were built for logging and timber industry, now recommissioned as tourist railway services in high mountains.

The Alishan Forest Railway is currently the largest tourist railway networks in Taiwan, operated by Taiwan Railways Administration. The Luodong Forest Railway and Taiping Mountain Forest Railway were interconnected to transport the harvested lumber from Taiping Mountain to Luodong, Yilan and transferred to major railway system of Taiwan. Now only a short 3.9 km (2.4 mi) section near Tiansongpi Station are operating. Wulai Scenic Train was originally tracks for rail push trolleys, now runs a light automotive for tourists.

The earliest railway in Taiwan was completed in 1893 under the auspices of Governor Liu Mingchuan during the Qing Era and rebuilt by the Governor-generals during the Japanese Era (see Taiwan Railways Administration§History). Since then, major railways in Taiwan have followed the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge standard. The Taitung Line was built during the Japanese Era with 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, but since 1982 it has been converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), while the Alishan Forest Railway and the majority of Taiwan Sugar Railways are still 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) railways. The Taiwan High Speed Rail and all rapid transit systems use standard gauge track.

Su Jhao-Syu (1967–), a prominent railway enthusiast and transport professor

Because of the Taiwan's extensive rail network (including many now defunct industrial narrow gauge lines which provided passenger service to rural areas), railways in Taiwan often have a romantic connotation, especially amongst the older generation who remember growing up when rail travel was the primary means of transportation between cities in simpler (and less prosperous) times. Many remember leaving their hometowns to attend school in far away cities by train or leaving via train to perform their compulsory military service. This nostalgia has been capitalized upon in recent years through the introduction of various items such as "nostalgia railroad ekiben" (懷舊鐵路便當), claimed to be authentic copies of the box lunches that were once served aboard trains.

There is also a sizable network of railway fans in Taiwan which has increased with the recent trend of Taiwanization; the culture of the railway fans in Taiwan is also strongly associated with that in Japan owing to strong Japanese influence on Taiwan’s railways ranging from the colonial legacy of Japan seen in Taiwan’s steam locomotives to the basis of the Taiwan High Speed Rail on the Shinkansen.[9] Some prominent railway enthusiasts in Taiwan include meteorologist Dr. Hung Chin-Wen and technical assistant professor Su Jhao-Syu of the National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism.

• List of railway stations in Taiwan
• Taiwan Railways Administration
• Transportation in Taiwan

Media related to Rail transport in Taiwan at Wikimedia Commons

• Taiwan railway scenery
• Twilight zone in Taiwan (Japanese)
• The Railways of Taiwan