Two sections of the Alishan Forest Railway are scheduled to resume services tomorrow, which will allow more tourists to travel on one of the highest mountain railways in the world, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
Following the completion of the first phase of the restoration of the railway, two sections — the Jhushan Sunrise-Watching Line (祝山觀日線) and the Divine Tree Line (神木線) — will be reopened to tourists, Wu said during a Cabinet meeting in which Council of Agriculture officials reported on the progress of the reconstruction project.
Alishan was once the nation’s most popular tourist destinations, with visitors flocking to see the “Five Wonders” — the cloud sea, sunrise, sunset, the mountain-climbing railway’s unique “Z” switchbacks and spirals that are a marvel of engineering and the forests through which the railway winds.
The Alishan Forest Railway, however, has faced a multitude of problems after massive flooding and landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot in August last year damaged or washed away tracks in more than 400 places, causing the closure of the line, leading to a drastic fall in the number of visitors to the area.
Officials from the Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau said the entire 71.4km line is expected to reopen by the end of next year once all three phases of the repair work have been completed.
Meanwhile, Wu exhorted the Forestry Bureau to make greater efforts to ensure that the Alishan Forest Recreation Park overhaul project, which includes the construction of a tourist hotel, will be completed by the time the railway fully reopens.
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