Eight Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) stations are soon to have VIP rooms as the agency prepares for the launch of the Year of the Railway Tourism in 2022.
TRA Director-General Chang Cheng-yuan (張政源) told a forum yesterday that one of the agency’s strategies involves having eight railway stations serving as regional tourism hubs, and that the plan would be implemented in two phases.
The first phase would see the establishment of hubs in Taipei’s Nangang (南港), Taichung’s Xinwuri (新烏日), Kaohsiung’s Xinzuoying (新左營), Pingtung’s Fangliao (枋寮) and Hualien stations, while the second phase would cover Taitung, Luodong (羅東) and Keelung railway stations.
Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
Each hub would be equipped with a VIP room, Chang said, adding that the one in Hualien is to open on Dec. 30, when the Mingri excursion train is scheduled to transport passengers to the east coast for New Year’s Eve.
Passengers must pay to access services at VIP rooms, except those taking tourist trains, and passengers with a TRA membership would receive a discount, Chang said.
Chang explained how the agency selected some of the regional tourism hubs.
The Nangang Railway Station houses the TRA, high-speed rail and Taipei MRT systems, and is the center of the Taipei City Government’s east gateway project, he said, adding that the station is also the starting point of the proposed high-speed rail extension from Taipei to Yilan.
Xinwuri and Xinzuoying stations were chosen because they also house three railway systems, Chang said.
Fangliao is the terminal station of the agency’s railway line on the west coast and the starting point of the South Link Line, he said.
It is also the starting and terminal points of blue-colored diesel commuter trains, a tourist train service, he added.
To prepare for the Year of Railway Tourism, Chang said the agency has begun upgrading antiquated facilities at the stations at the previously defunct Old Mountain Line and branch lines before turning them into tourist railway lines.
The TRA has allocated more than NT$4 billion (US$139 million) to revamp the Old Mountain Line and the Jiji Branch Line, he said.
It has also purchased 60 tourist train cars for the branch lines, he said.
In addition to the Mingri excursion train and blue commuter train that would begin operations next year, the agency plans to introduce a series of tour train services in 2022 and 2024, he said.
In 2022, it would introduce two excursion train services, he said.
One of them would use refurbished EMU-100 train cars and would carry passengers from Yilan to Taipei via the North Link Line, where passengers can have tea aboard and view the Turtle Island.
Another tourist train service would feature revamped EMU-300 train cars, which would be equipped with large windows, observation decks and a dining bar.
A diamond-class luxury sleeper train is to be unveiled in 2024, Chang said, adding that the agency would work with local designers to build the train.
“In the future, our tour train services would be available at different prices. The food served on board would be different as well,” he said.
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