The last Fu-hsing semi-express train, once the workhorse of the nation’s passenger railways, is to be retired from service tomorrow, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said on Saturday.
The train’s final trip — from Hualien to New Taipei City’s Shulin Station (樹林), a journey of 3 hours, 22 minutes — is to depart at 6:05am.
The Fu-hsing carriage, introduced in the early 1980s, was the first locally built train and the first in the nation to have air-conditioning.
Photo: CNA
Once seen throughout Taiwan, the Fu-hsing carriage has been gradually superseded by more modern carriages or high-speed trains. Only running on four TRA routes, it is being replaced by the new EMU900 carriage, the EMU500 or the Tze-chiang limited express.
One of the last routes to be modernized was the Fu-hsing 691, or the “Mystery Train,” Hualien Station manager Wu Ching-tien (吳金添) said, adding that the weekly service between Hualien and Shulin Station — a journey of 2 hours, 56 minutes — departed on its last run yesterday at 2:02pm.
With the introduction of the Tze-chiang train on that route, the fare is to be increased from NT$283 to NT$440, he added.
The worn Fu-hsing carriages are to be demolished, while those deemed salvageable are to be used on the South Link Line, the TRA said.
In honor of the carriage’s decades of service, the TRA is selling 300 commemorative tickets on tomorrow’s final run from Hualien Station to Sincheng Station (新城) for NT$150, which includes an assigned seat and official TRA validation.
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