The Taiwan Railway Administration’s (TRA) CK124 steam train and Japan’s C11 171 steam train, also known as the Winter Wetland, have officially become sister trains. The relationship was made official after the nation’s largest rail service provider exchanged contracts with Hokkaido Railway Co (JR Hokkaido) in Japan yesterday
To celebrate its first sisterhood relationship with a train in a foreign country, the TRA arranged for its CK124 and CK101 steam trains to run on its Neiwan branch line yesterday morning. JR Hokkaido had the Winter Wetland and its C11 207 leave from Hokkaido station.
About 20 Taiwanese railway fans also boarded the Winter Wetland yesterday to witness the historic moment.
Photo: Hung Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, souvenirs related to the special occasion, including limited-edition T-shirts, key chains and caps, were launched for sale at Taipei Railway Station and Neiwan Station.
TRA Director-General Frank Fan (范植谷) said the CK124 and C11 trains look similar in that both have smoke deflectors attached to front of the steam locomotive, which are designed to push smoke away to improve visibility for the driver.
Fan said the TRA plans to work with airlines to arrange steam train tours for Japanese tourists, which would be available in February, March and June each year.
Starting on June 9, Fan said that the CK124 steam train would operate on the Neiwan, Jiji (集集) and Pingsi (平溪) branch lines, as well as on the Old Mountain Line and the railway line between Hualien and Taitung.
Wang Chuan-hsin (王傳馨), a section chief at the TRA, said railway enthusiasts in Taiwan and Japan have been trying to forge a partnership for many years, but the railway authorities on both sides did not start discussing details until December last year.
In related news, 450 members of the Junior Chamber International Japan are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on a cruise ship in June to challenge the Guinness World Record for the biggest three-legged race.
The Japanese public service group said that it plans to travel to Taiwan this year because it wants to thank Taiwan for its generous donations to the Japanese people following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeast of the country in March last year.
Members will be joined by 150 Taiwanese, aged between 20 and 30, the organizer said, adding that the event would be held at the Guanshan (觀山) Riverside Park in Taipei on June 5.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by