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: Railways Through Europe
• Printed: Quail Map Company: China Railway Atlas, 3rd edition (ISBN: 978 1 898319 82 8), published in 2008.

Taiwan Railways Administration

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

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 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.

Infrastructure

• Gauge: standard (1435mm)
• Electrification: 25kV 60Hz AC
• Rule of the road: not known

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. There is further information at Wikipedia.

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

Obscure and Sparse Passenger Services

None known