An agreement paving the way for expanded collaboration between state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. and Welshpool and Llanfiar Light Railway Preservation Co. Ltd. of the U.K. was concluded Dec. 8 in southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County.
Under the accord, the two sides will share experiences and technical skills on the operation of tourist railways and locomotive maintenance. They will also work together to promote narrow-gauge railway tourism.
Taisugar Chairman Charles Huang and WLLR Secretary Michael Reilly inked the pact at the Sugar Cultural Festival, an annual event hosted by the Taiwan company that runs through Dec. 16. The agreement will advance ties established in 2004 when Taisugar sold the U.K. firm a Diema diesel locomotive.
Ahead of the signing, WLLR sent Dougal, a steam locomotive built in 1946, to southern Taiwan for the festival. Taking place in both Chiayi and the western county of Yunlin, the 10-day celebration includes an international forum on railways, music performances and a tour of one of Taisugar’s former mills.
One of the nation’s largest agricultural enterprises, Taisugar, headquartered in the southern city of Tainan, once owned around 3,000- kilometers of railway lines used mainly for the transport of raw materials. The company still operates five routes from its former mills that have been transformed into recreational parks.
Built in 1903, the nearly 26-km Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway in rural Wales linked farming communities with the market town of Welshpool. The line was shuttered in 1956 but gradually reopened in stages from 1963 by a group of enthusiasts. (CPY-E)
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