The Antong (安通) Train Station in Hualien is scheduled to reopen today — but as a rest stop for bicyclists.
The station used to be one of the stops on the railway route along the east coast. It ceased operation in 2007 after the government decided to “straighten” the railway route between Yuli (玉里) and Dongli (東里).
With Hualien’s reputation as a haven for cyclists, the Tourism Bureau, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) and the Yuli Township office have been working together to remove the railway tracks and turn the section into a bicycling route.
Railway Reconstruction Bureau Deputy Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said Antong was the only station on the old east coast railway route to have been changed into a cyclist stop.
After renovation, the Antong station is now equipped with shower facilities and basic bicycle repair tools. The station is close to the 5.8km bicycle route from Yuli to Fuli (富里).
“Based on our rating system, Antong is a two-star cyclist stop,” Chou said. “The ‘five-star’ stops are mainly in Hualien, Taitung or at other big stations.”
Aside from the Antong station, the bureau is planning to turn the Tzuchiang tunnel on the old east coast railway route into a cycling tunnel similar to the Old Caoling Tunnel (舊草嶺隧道) in Fulung (福隆).
Chou said an electronic cycling route map can be downloaded from www.showmap.com.tw/bike/default/.
Mobile phones equipped with software that can read two-dimensional code can download the route maps from e-map systems installed at tourist destinations, bus stops or bicycle rental shops, the bureau said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS