Taiwan; interesting rail trips?

[Backroom_boy]

Im off to Taiwan in March; any recommendations for trips by rail?

 

[david_g]

Im off to Taiwan in March; any recommendations for trips by rail?

You could try the Alishan Forest Railway https://afrch.forest.gov.tw/En , it's a sister railway to the Welshpool & Llanfair where I volunteer. People who've been say it is spectacular and can get very busy in cherry blossom time. We currently have DL34 on loan from there though it has yet to work a passenger service.

 

[KK2109]

Will recommend the Changhua roundhouse if you like Diesel and Steam locomotives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changhua_Roundhouse

The roundhouse itself is open to public daily for free and is still operational as part of the depot. Changhua depot the base for diesel locomotives in central Taiwan, so plenty of diesel locomotives around the depot, you might see them shunting to/from the roundhouse if you are lucky. Also, the old EMD locomotives (R20/R100/R150 etc) will soon be replaced by the new Stadler locomotive R200, so its definitely worth visiting. The roundhouse is about 10 mins walk from Changhua Station, and except a handful of super-fasts everything on the Western line stop at Changhua.

Also the National Railway Museum in Taipei is worth a visit, they got some British built EMU100 series. They were built by BREL back in 1970s based on MK2 carriages. But unfortunately the museum does require reservation as part of it is still under restoration. Visit information can be found on their website: https://www.nrm.gov.tw/en/cp.aspx?n=3388

You could try the Alishan Forest Railway https://afrch.forest.gov.tw/En , it's a sister railway to the Welshpool & Llanfair where I volunteer. People who've been say it is spectacular and can get very busy in cherry blossom time. We currently have DL34 on loan from there though it has yet to work a passenger service.

Alishan Forest Railway is amazing! They just reopened the full line so trains can run from Chiayi all the way to Alishan again, it is definitely worth visiting!

 

[dutchflyer]

Was there 2nd time last nov.-that time mostly to see the (for me new) HS-line and the 2 new tram systems: Taipei and Khaosiung, both ends of that HS-line.
As always also depends on your interests and how much time you have (and perhaps money-it is not a tipical cheap ASEAN place like THailand here, but also not JPN-pricey).
My first time I got a railpass and went all along the island-not very fast, but then you get to see about all major sights.
This island is very much densely populated and all the major cities are along the coast- for nature the inner mountainous area is more attractive-but also harder to get in. The few rail-interest sites are above already.
The usual touristy sites, that can be found in any general forum like tripadvisor, are nearly thus all along the coast and easy to get to by rail.
There are very few real tourists-most westerners you may meet are for bizniz or the like, but compared to mainland CHina its very well organised, wellcoming and /en/ speaking, thus easier to get around.

 

[superalbs]

The Chu-Kuang Express is still hauled by classic American electric locomotives. Well worth a few rides. Brand-new E500 locomotives from Toshiba are replacing the classic E200 and E1000 locomotives as we speak, so be quick!

Also there are some very reasonably priced touristic trains, one of them does the entire island loop in a day, which was about £70 I think. See here: https://www.klook.com/activity/106624-taiwan-railway-themed-train-special-ticket/

You can also ride fresh-air stock with a diesel locomotive on a different train that runs on the eastern coast. See here: https://m.kkday.com/en-us/product/104105

 

[Backroom_boy]

Thanks for all these; I've looked at the forest railway and it might be a bit of a trek to get to it, but I double check

 

[ulfantom]

Im off to Taiwan in March; any recommendations for trips by rail?

Im off to Taiwan in March; any recommendations for trips by rail?

I have lived in Taiwan for 9 years. I've ridden on every bit of track here. For the most part the west coast is dull, there are two routes south of Zhunan to Changhua - Coast and Mountain Line. There are some views of the sea, the mountain line goes via the city of Taichung and the views between Sanyi and Houli are superb.

There are several branch lines: the Pingxi Line, Shen'ao Lines north east of Taipei take you to tourist sites. Pingxi, Badouzi, Shifen. The Neiwan Line in Hsinchu takes you to the pretty village of Neiwan famous for it's Hakka food. The Jiji Line in Nantou is quaint and very pretty.

The main attraction railway wise is the east coast. The northern section from Yilan to Hualien through the mountains and Hualien to Taitung sections via the East Rift Valley are gorgeous.

The Alishan Forest Railway is an attraction in itself. I'm not sure of your purpose of travel to Taiwan or how long you have but if Alishan is out the way it raises concerns.

My favourite spots around Taiwan include the north east coast - Badouzi, Jiufen, Teapot Mountain. The town of Lukang in Changhua. Shenkang is a very underrated old street south east of Taipei. Tainan is the old capital that's much different to the other cities in Taiwan. I also concur with the Railway Roundhouse. Lukang, the city of Changhua are both worth half a day. The railway museum in downtown Taipei is well worth the visit too

There are foreign tourists here but not that many. Outside Taipei the majority of foreigners live here. I kinda like that, Taiwan doesn't feel overrun. March is also a perfect time to visit.

 

[Backroom_boy]

For this visit I don't think I'll be going outside Taipei; so I'll check out the roundhouse and museum (if it's open)

 

[railfan99]

This journey is well worth doing:

Jiji Branch Railway

• Take a conventional express train to Ershui Station in Changhua County
• Transfer to the Jiji Branch Railway to Checheng Station
• Take the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle to Sun Moon Lake

 

[Teapot42]

For this visit I don't think I'll be going outside Taipei; so I'll check out the roundhouse and museum (if it's open)

While there is plenty to do in Taipei, it would be a real shame to miss the rest of the country. The roundhouse isn't in Taipei by the way - there is a railway cultural park but it looks like a work in progress and doesn't seem to be open much - at least when we were there earlier in the year there only seemed to be a small part open on special occasions.

If you see nothing else outside Taipei I'd highly recommend doing the Alishan Railway. The scenery is absolutely spectacular, like nothing you get in the UK - indeed, even if you only get to Fenqihu you are still about as high up as you can get in this country, and it still goes up from there. Places like Klook and KKday do offer day trips from Taipei where you get the HSR to Chiayi, are collected and taken to the city station (many of the Taiwanese HSR stations are not at all central). You then get a train up and are taken back down by bus. It's a long day as you normally have to be on the HSR before 7, but if you can't spare time to extend the trip it's one option.

Be aware, if you are looking to buy Alishan tickets there is a very odd system. They open sales 15 days ahead at 6AM local time. Ticket sales for Saturday and Sunday open on the Friday. If you aren't on the website and in the queue at exactly 6AM you likely won't get tickets. Taiwan Obsessed has a good guide for this:
Buying Alishan Raiway Tickets

Another option is doing a full loop around the island. I've done this before, albeit split in to three sections. We did Taipei to Tainan, then Tainan to Hualien, and finally back to Taipei. I think it can be done in a day, but it would be an awfully long day. There did also seem to be more limited options than I remember when we did it 8 years ago. The section on the East coast is spectacular, although there is less reason to stop off in Hualien at the moment as Taroko Gorge is mainly closed still.

Lastly, Shifen is worth doing for the novelty of the train running through the middle of the town. Whether you do a lantern is up to you - when we were there in January we were amazed how many there were littering the river, stuck in trees etc. Apparently the locals are paid to collect them by the government, but it still seems to cause a lot of environmental damage.

One final tip, if you are getting from Taoyuan to central Taipei by the Airport MRT then be aware that while they refer to it as Taipei Main Station, where that MRT stops is a very long walk from the main station. Depending how much luggage you have it can be much easier to exit the MRT and get a taxi to your hotel - Taiwanese taxis are really cheap and you'll save a lot of time and effort. Otherwise, it's shorter to walk to Beimen on the Red line than in to Taipei Main Station.

 

[Backroom_boy]

In the end we didn't leave Taipei; but the railway museum near the central station was very good and well worth visiting.

Was there for only the last hour before it closed but easily could have spent two hours plus there (Mrs. BRB was fine with one hour) Very well captioned exhibits in english and a good overview of the railways. A good model railway of the 'Marklin' type, but didn't see any rolling stock so hard core gricers will be disappointed.

The official site is here but the Google maps link gives a better idea imho

國立臺灣博物館-鐵道部園區

鐵道部園區

www.ntm.gov.tw

National Taiwan Museum Railway Department Park

maps.app.goo.gl