In a move aimed at encouraging the exchange of railway culture with Japan, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday announced that Hsinchu (新竹) Railway Station and Tokyo Station are to become “sister stations.”
The agreement is scheduled to be signed on Thursday by TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) and East Japan Railway Co vice president Yuji Fukasawa at Hsinchu Railway Station.
Hsinchu Station has been in use since 1913 and became a sister station of New York’s Central Station in 2013, the year of its centenary, the agency said.
One of the oldest stations along the rail line on the west coast, the Hsinchu Station building was designed by Japanese architect Tsumunaga Matsugasaki, it said.
Combining baroque and Gothic architectural styles, the station is a Hsinchu City landmark, it said.
Tokyo Station opened in 1914 and is the central station in the capital city of Japan.
Designed by Japanese architect Kingo Tatsuno, it is influenced by Renaissance architecture, the agency said.
The idea to create sister stations was proposed by East Japan Railway chairman Seino Satoshi when he came to Taiwan to attend a railway forum last year, Chou said, adding that both Hsinchu and Tokyo stations have been in service for more than 100 years, making them ideal partners.
To celebrate the occasion, the agency plans to issue special-edition one-day passes for the Neiwan (內灣) Branch Line and platform tickets for the Hsinchu Station that will feature an image of the station. Japanese tourists can obtain smartcards featuring the same image by presenting their passports at the Taipei, Hsinchu or Kaohisung railway stations.
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