Home > Railways of Taiwan
The Railways of Taiwan can generally be catagorized into the following groups:
- Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路): A narrow gauge rail line that runs to the popular mountain resort of Alishan. Originally built by the Japanese Colonial Government for the logging industry in 1912, this line now caters mostly to tourists.
- Taiwan Sugar Company (台灣糖業公司): A series of narrow gauge lines mostly in central and southern Taiwan, originally built to haul sugarcane, but provided limited passenger service. Passager services discontinued in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du.
Cultural
Railways in Taiwan often have a romantic connotation, especially amongst the older generation who remember growing up when rail travel was the primary means of transportation between cities in simpler (and less prosperous) times. Many remember leaving their hometowns to attend school in far away cities by train or leaving via train to perform their compulsory military service. This nostalgiaNostalgia currently describes a longing for the past: Often an idealized and unrealistic past The term was originally coined in 1678 by Johannes Hoffer ( 1669- 1752) from Latin roots, to refer to "the pain a sick person feels because he is not in his nati has often been capitalized upon in recent years through the introduction of various items such as "nostalgia box lunches" (懷舊便當), claimed to be authentic copies of the box lunches that were once served aboard trains.
There is also a sizable network of railway fans in Taiwan which has increased with the recent trend of Taiwanization.
Transportation in TaiwanRailways ''total 2,481 km (519 km electrified) narrow gauge 2,481 km 1. 067-m (1999) See also: Railways of Taiwan Highways ''total 34,901 km paved 31,271 km (including 538 km of expressways) unpaved 3,630 km (1998 est. See also: Highway System in Taiwan P
