The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is to open an extension building for the Hualien Railway Station in a ceremony today.
The new building, part of which crosses over the railway tracks, cost about NT$900 million (US$29.35 million at the current exchange rate) and took three years to build, the agency said.
Chang Chin-tien (張金添), the director of the agency’s Hualien branch, said the new building’s waiting area is about six times bigger than the one in the old building.
With the extension, the station now has six elevators and 13 escalators, he said, adding that the station would be able to serve up to 50,000 passengers a day.
An overpass connects the new building’s east and west wings, from which passengers can see the trains arrive at or depart from the station below, he said, adding that they would also be able to see aircraft landing at or taking off from a nearby airport.
Taiwanese artist and calligrapher Dong Yang-tze (董陽孜) painted the station’s new name sign, the agency said.
The station’s outdoors areas would be decorated with works of art featuring images of mountains and trees, it said.
The extension building has separate areas for departing and arriving passengers, it added.
Passengers are to enter the platforms through ticket-checking gates on the new building’s third floor, the agency said, adding that they would leave the station through an underground passage.
To celebrate the new building’s opening, the agency is to offer 1,500 commemorative tickets today, with each set featuring three different types of train tickets, it said.
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