Taiwan Today

While taking a railway tour may be fun for tourists, those in the business have been struggling to make ends meet.

For 120-some years, Taiwan’s railway stations have seen a lot of laughter and tears. While the trains bring in joyful passengers who are about to meet their loved ones, they also take away those who have just said farewell to their families and hometowns. In the past decade or so, however, more departures have become joyful, as railway tourism is once again growing in popularity in Taiwan.

The history of railroads in Tai­wan dates back to 1887, when governor Liu Ming-chuan’s (1836–1896) administration began work on a section of track in the northern part of the island. By the time Liu resigned from his post in 1891, he had overseen the completion of 78 kilometers of tracks connecting Keelung and Hsinchu. Subsequently, the Japanese took over the construction of Taiwan’s railway during Japan’s colonial rule over the island between 1895 and 1945. During those years, the Japanese extended the railway to Kaohsiung, completed several branch lines and part of the route in eastern Taiwan. A number of the tracks used the narrow gauge system that was also used by the Taiwan Sugar Corp. for transporting raw materials and products. According to the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), which has managed the island’s railroads exclusively for more than a century, the total track length, excluding those lines operated by Taisugar, was 911 kilometers by the time the Japanese left Taiwan.

Hung Chih-wen, a railfan and an assistant professor at National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Geography, points out in his book One Century of Railways in Taiwan that railways have been important to the Taiwanese, both in modernizing the island and in shaping a sense of cultural separateness from China. He notes that, before the line to Kaohsiung was built, land travel between northern and southern Taiwan was inconvenient and people felt more connected to mainland China as the most important trade relationships were between the harbors of Taiwan’s coastal cities and the mainland. The construction of the railway system allowed different parts of the island to feel connected to one another, and people started to think of Taiwan as one island, Hung writes.

Although the Japanese built the railways mainly for transporting passengers and cargo, there was a small amount of rail tourism during the Japanese period. Gao Chuan-chi, a consultant for the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Taipei County Government, points out that the Danshui Line was one of the most popular tourist lines at the time. The line, constructed in 1901, was Taiwan’s first railway branch line, with the main function of connecting Taipei and Danshui, which was then a major port. “The railway was a main reason for the development of Danshui’s economy and tourism,” Gao says.

Gao notes that a train trip to Danshui was so popular that the small town was selected as one of Taiwan’s eight greatest scenic areas in 1927. Gao recently organized the Danshui Historic Sites exhibition, which showcased many of the photos and films shot there in the 1930s. By the 1940s, however, the enthusiasm for touring Danshui was gone as wartime pressures increased. In the years that followed, as the harbor was losing its importance, the Danshui Line’s main function became transporting students of Tamkang Junior College of English (now Tamkang University) and other passengers to and from Taipei. Operation of the branch line was terminated in 1988, to pave the way for the Danshui Line of Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit system, which was constructed mostly along the old railway line.

After the Kuomintang government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, it continued to modernize existing lines through measures such as the electrification of railways, as well as filling in the “missing links” in the system.

’Round-Island Network

 The last link of a ’round-island rail network, the South Link Line connecting Taitung and Pingtung, on the east coast, was completed in 1992. In 2007, Taiwan’s high-speed rail system commenced commercial operation, a move that shortened travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung from four hours to 90 minutes. Currently, Taiwan’s rail systems total about 1,100 kilometers, providing services between more than 200 stations.

Railway tourism from 1949 to the early 1990s, meanwhile, remained relatively undeveloped. It was not until former Republic of China (ROC) President Lee Teng Hui took a ’round-island train trip on the completed network that the TRA was instructed to work on organizing and promoting railway tourism.

By law, however, the TRA, as a state enterprise, can only sell train tickets, meaning it cannot be involved in any part of the tourism business such as booking accommodations or selling packaged tours. As an alternative, the TRA worked with 30-some travel agencies to set up the Railway Travel Consortium (RTC) in 1993—just two months after Lee’s ’round-island trip.

The main functions of the consortium were to research the tourism resources along the lines, work with accommodation and local transportation operators and design package tours. Combining with land transportation services, RTC organized several railway tours to popular destinations like Hualien, Taitung, Kenting and Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County. In addition to using the trunk lines, the group also designed tours on the Alishan Forest Railway as well as three branch lines: the Pingxi Line, the Neiwan Line and the Jiji Line. “When the RTC was first set up, railway tourism was a totally uncultivated market in Taiwan,” says William Chen, President of Olé Travel Service Co. “The RTC didn’t turn it into a hot item, but it’s fair to say that it made some waves and got the trend started.”

Olé was one of the earliest travel agencies that saw the potential of railway tours. Chen thinks that in addition to the cozy ride, the biggest advantage for railway tours is that the travelers can go pretty much whenever they feel like it. “You need to wait ’til a travel agency gets a few dozen people for a bus tour package, because the cost of renting a bus is the same whether there are four or 40 people on it,” Chen says. “But train schedules are fixed and it runs even if you’re the only person on it.”

Also in on the cultivation and promotion of the railway tour market was the Taiwan Railway Travel Association (TRTA). Established in 1998, the organization’s members included not only travel agencies but also railway fans and enthusiasts of railway culture and history. Shortly after its establishment, it chartered the TRA’s lounge car and piloted a one-day tour from Taipei to Taichung. Staffed with service personnel and tour guides introducing must-see attractions along the route, the trip received accolades from the public. The most popular promotional events, according to Chen, who is the secretary-general of the organization, have been trips riding one of the restored old steam locomotives.

The cooperation of the TRA, local governments and the private sector resulted in package tours that made more people willing to give railway travel a try, while other factors were also contributing to the popularity of this type of getaway. Chen thinks that Taiwan’s opening of the cable television market in the mid-1990s was influential as it allowed local operators to bring in large numbers of Japanese programs on railway tours. Taiwan’s implementation of the five-day workweek since 2001 (from 1998 to 2000 there were alternating five- and six-day workweeks) also allowed more leisure time and thus increased the options for people’s weekend activities.

In fact, 2001, which saw the launch of the daily Hualien Tourist Train, the Spring Princess Express and the Kenting Star Express, was a year of major “upgrading” for Taiwan’s railway tours. Chen explains that prior to these trains, packaged railway tours were using regular TRA trains. “Both the TRA and the private sector, after a couple of years, saw that it could be profitable to operate trains exclusively for tourists,” Chen says. “Chartered lines made things easier both for the TRA and the private sector.” For the TRA, it meant an annual income of between NT$100 million and $200 million (US$3 and $6 million) without worrying about ticket sales. For travel agencies, fixed train schedules and a control on available seats helped in designing different tours and marketing.

Consumers also welcomed the chartered tourist trains. To distinguish the tourist carriages from ordinary TRA cars, the travel agencies, under TRA permission and assistance, refurbished train carriages and offered improved service. The exteriors of the trains were painted with images representing Taiwan and inside each tourist carriage had fewer seats than regular cars, which allowed more space between seats and along aisles. They were also hooked up to dining and lounge cars, as well as karaoke cars.

Private Sector Support

Since the TRA continually suffers a multi-billion dollar annual deficit, all the money for the upgrades came from the private sector.

Several other tourist expresses, such as the South Link Star, were launched as the popularity of the three lines increased. Then in 2004, ezTravel—Taiwan’s largest online travel agency—won the right to be the sole agent for the Formosa Star tour. The four-day, three-night Formosa Star tour was designed as a luxury trip. In addition to services found on other tourist trains and even more spacious seats, passengers could also enjoy amenities similar to those available when flying business class, such as free champagne or wine. Accommodations in each of the Formosa Star’s stops, of course, were the best hotels available. “Everything about the Formosa Star was five-star,” Chen says. “It was the pinnacle of Taiwan’s railway tours.”

What comes after reaching the pinnacle, unfortunately, is usually a downhill trip. Most of the tours did not last too long for lack of passengers and were either cancelled or combined. Excluding branch lines, there are only two chartered tourist trains currently in operation: the Hualien Tourist Train and the ’round-island Formosa Express, which “evolved” from the Formosa Star in 2008. Since travel agencies are no longer interested in chartering the trains, both lines are now operated by the TRA, which means that the “upgrades” such as the colorful exterior paintings, service people dressed in aboriginal costumes and chefs from five-star restaurants on the dining car—services that were originally made possible by investment from the private sector—are all gone. Chen suggests that a major reason for the two lines being able to hang in there is that they both make a stop at Hualien—a place where flight availability is limited and cars are required to take the arduous and sometimes dangerous Suhua Highway, which is the only automobile access from Yilan to Hualien.

Neither the RTC nor the TRTA—the two organizations formed to promote railway tourism—are still in operation, and the number of travel agencies selling railway tour packages has also dropped from 30-some to about a dozen, with Olé being the only one that still focuses on such services. “The five-day workweek was a major reason for the growth of tourism,” Chen says. “For people in the railway tourism sector, however, it seems that we’ve been having five-day rest weeks in the past several years.”

Chen explains that railway tours have their weaknesses compared to other types of domestic tourism. “They’re expensive,” he says. “And when the economy is not good, travel expenses are among the first things people cut.” Currently, a ’round-island five-day rail tour is priced at approximately NT$30,000 (US$909), which is enough for a five-day trip to resorts in Japan, mainland China or most other Asian destinations. The reason for railway tours being expensive is the train fare, as TRA is required by law to sell tickets at a fixed price. A roundtrip journey on a Tzu-chiang, or express, train between Taipei and Hualien, for example, is NT$1,522 (US$46), while the daily rent for a 45-seat bus can be as low as NT$10,000 (US$300) and is usually subsidized by “souvenir shops” at the tour destinations provided that the buses make stops at these shops.

One strategy travel agencies use to gain a competitive edge is to create different classes of the same package deal. A ’round-island package on weekdays, for instance, is available from Olé for between NT$14,600 and $23,000 (US$442 and $696), depending mainly on the accommodations. Chen also finds that single-day trips to Hualien are gaining more popularity. These packages, priced between NT$1,790 and $2,490 (US$54 and $75), include train fare and a choice of one of the popular local activities such as whale watching or a visit to the Hualien Ocean Park. Most of the packages can be customized to meet consumer demands, such as combining trains with airplanes and the high-speed rail to shorten travel time. Much to his surprise, Chen has found that, while local consumers are not as enthusiastic for such trips as they were several years ago, the market for inbound tourists has seen some growth. At present, half of his business is from overseas Taiwanese.

While the private sector has been struggling to make ends meet, the TRA has also been taking measures to keep tourists on the rails. One of the more successful projects is the “cruise trains” launched in summer 2008. Instead of stopping for a few minutes at stations, the cruise trains stop at selected stations for a longer time to allow passengers to go sightseeing at designated scenic spots, taste some of the local food and get back on board on the same train to move on to the next stop. Cruise runs of several lines in all parts of the island have been launched. According to TRA spokesman Chang Ying-hui, the tickets have all been sold literally in seconds and the TRA is considering making cruise trains part of its regular schedule.

Rail Revival

Another project is the Old Mountain Line—a 15.9-kilometer railway between Sanyi in Miaoli County and Houli in Taichung County. The Old Mountain Line, with rich tourism resources including several scenic spots and old stations that have been designated as historic sites along the line, ended its regular service in 1998. The TRA is now repairing it and planning to outsource operation of the line to the private sector by the end of the year.

The TRA is also planning to revive the Hualien Port Line from Hualien Port to the old Hualien Station into Taiwan’s first integrated rail-line cycling path, where cyclists will be able to enjoy scenes of old steam locomotives hauling yellow passenger carriages alongside the coastal tourist bike path. Rebuilding of the old narrow-gauge rail has started, and the TRA will restore one of the steam locomotives currently on display in Hualien Railway Cultural Park so that it can once again haul passengers on the narrow-gauge railway it used to serve.

If everything goes as planned, the projects are anticipated to bring some light to the local railway tourism industry as well as some help to the TRA in filling its financial black hole. It is still premature to tell the effectiveness of the projects, but it is likely that with the operation of more tourist lines, there will once more be platforms full of laughter, for the tourists will be either heading for fun or heading home.

Write to Jim Hwang at jim@mail.gio.gov.tw