Taiwan

Country Details

See Wikipedia

Note that this page is for the Republic of China; for the People's Republic of China, see China.

Railway System

There are two major rail operators. Information for both is available at the Man in Seat 61.

Maps

• Online: Map of Railway network
• Online: Zoomable on line map
• Online: Railways Through Europe
• Printed: Quail Map Company: China Railway Atlas, 3rd edition (ISBN: 978 1 898319 82 8), published in 2008. See Printed Maps.

Distances

It may be necessary to click on [show] route map

• Eastern Trunk Line
• South-link line
• Western Trunk line and Pingtung line.
• Neiwan line.
• Taichung line.
• Jiji line
• Pingtung line
• Taiwan High Speed Rail line

Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA)

TRA owns and operates the "classic" 3'6" gauge network. This forms a complete circuit around the island, with several branches.

Passenger railway lines

• Eastern Trunk Line. Divided into three sections
  • Yilan line, 93.6km Badu - Ruifang - Sandiaoling - Yilen - Su'aoxin - Su'ao. Note: Su'aoxin - Su'ao is a short branch)
    • Shen'ao line, 4.6km Ruifang - Badouzi. Between Haikeguan and Badouzi is closed until further notice, observed January 2025.
    • Pingxi line, 12.9km Sandiaoling - Jingtong. Note: Local service, but also considered a tourist railway
  • North-link line, 79.2km Su'aoxin - Hualien
  • Hualien - Taitung line, 150.9km Hualien - Taitung
• South-link line, 98.2km Taitung - Pingtung
• Western Trunk line, 404.5km Keelung - Badu - Taipei - Hsinchu - Zhunan- Taichang Port - Zhuifen - Changhun - Ershui - Chiayi - Tainan - Zhongzhou - Kaohsiung
  • Neiwan line, 27.9km [Hsinchu] - Zhuzhong - Neiwan. Note: Local service from Zhuzhong, but also considered a tourist railway especially in the latter stages.
    • Liujia line, 3.1km Zhuzhong - Liujia. The Liujia Line, which connects TRA Hsinchu Station and THSR Hsinchu Station (to which it is adjacent), branches off from the Neiwan Line at Zhuzhong Station.
  • Taichung line, 85.5km. This line runs parallel with the Western Trunk line between Zhunan and Changhua
  • Chengzhui line, 2.2 km This curve connects the Taichung line at Chenggong station to the Western Trunk line at Zhuifen station, forming a wye. Note that a journey between Chenggong and Zhuifen will not give overlap at each end.
  • Jiji line, 29.7km Ershui - Checheng. Note: Local service, but also considered a tourist railway. Zhuoshui to Checheng is closed until at least the end of 2025.
  • Shalun line, 5.3km. Shalun (adjacent to Tainan THSR) - Zhongzhou. Services continue on Western Trunk line to Tainan TRA.
• Pingtung line, 21km Kaohsiung - Pingtung

Infrastructure

• Gauge: 1067mm (3'6")
• Electrification: 25kV 60Hz AC
• Rule of the road: not known

Information

• Website: https://www.railway.gov.tw/ Click the Language button and select English if necessary.
• Journey planner: on the website front page, or the detailed enquiry page
• Downloadable timetable: not known
• Real-time information: train operation status, includes a map

Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR)

THSR owns and operates the standard-gauge high-speed line between Taipei and Zuoying (near Kaohsiung), on the more-populated western side of the island. This line opened in 2007.
Taipei - Banqiao - Hsinchu - Miaoli - Taichung - Tainan - Zuoying (Kaohsiung)

• Banqiao THSR. Interchange with Taipei Blue and Yellow lines.
• Hsinchu THSR. Interchange with adjacent Liujia station for Liujia line to Hsinchu TRA station.
• Miaoli THSR. Short walk to Fengfu station on Western Trunk line
• Taichung THSR. Short walk to Xinwuri station on Western Trunk line.
• Tainan THSR. Interchange with adjacent Shalun station for Shalun line to Zhongzhou and Tainan TRA.

Infrastructure

• Gauge: standard (1435 mm, 4' 8½" )
• Electrification: 25kV 60Hz AC
• Rule of the road: Left hand running except on two track sections of the Coast Line between Changhua and Zhunan where right hand running was observed.

Information

• Website: https://en.thsrc.com.tw/
• Journey planner: on the website front page
• Downloadable timetable: use the timetable search on the front page to access the main "Timetable and Fare Search" page; this includes a "Timetable Downloads" section.
• Real-time information: train operation status

Tourist Lines

• The highly scenic Alishan Forest Railway was built as a 762mm (2'6") gauge logging railway, but is now operated as a tourist line. The full line from Chiayi to Alishan reopened 6 July 2024. There is further information at Wikipedia.
• Old Mountain line Electric rail bikes on disused section of Taitung line between Shenghsing and Tunnel 6.

Other tourist lines are listed at Wikipedia; these were also built for industrial use, either logging or sugarcane transport.

Metro and light rail systems

Taipei area

• Taipei Metro
• New Taipei Metro: light rail feeder lines for the main metro system
• Taoyuan Metro: a long Taipei - airport - Taoyuan metro route

See also UrbanRail: Taipei and Taoyuan

Kaohsiung

• Kaohsiung Metro: metro and light rail. See also UrbanRail

Taichung

• Taichung Metro. See also UrbanRail

Recent and Future Changes

Future Changes

Tainan station is being moved underground with expected completion and opening in November 2026.

Work is expected to start in 2026 on Phase 1 of the MRT Blue Line, the first section of a proposed five line network. Phase 1 will be an elevated line of 8.39km length with ten stations.

Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services

Yongle to Dong'ao tunnels TW1
South of Su'ao on the Eastern main line, northbound and southbound tunnels between Yongle and Su'ao are up to 500 metres apart and can be considered separate lines.