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Taipei, Taiwan–(ANTARA/Business Wire)–Alishan Forest Railway has resumed full operation after a 15-year hiatus and launched two new tourist charter trains – the Holmes and Vitality Express, each offering a unique tour package aimed at revitalizing rail travel and attracting tourists.
The Formosa is built with large pieces of cypress wood, and its exterior walls feature black window frames with red trim. The interior of the train is filled with the distinctive aroma of Taiwan red cypress and Taiwan cypress. The Vitality Express, inspired by the Alishan Forest Railway and converted from an old carriage, has a colorful exterior with blue, orange, white and yellow interwoven into the mix.
In 1903, the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office began planning the Alishan Forest Railway, and construction of the railway from Chiayi to Zhuqi began in 1906. In 2009, Typhoon Morakot severely damaged the railway, causing it to be completely shut down. Despite extensive repairs, Typhoon Dujuan in 2015 further delayed the railway’s reopening.
In July this year, after overcoming numerous difficulties, the new No. 42 tunnel was completed and the Alishan Railway was fully reopened to traffic. Even though it has been suspended for fifteen years, the charm of the century-old railway remains undiminished. The “Alishan Forest Railway Cultural Landscape” has become Taiwan’s first national important cultural landscape.
The Alishan Forest Railway adopts four types of railway construction methods, including spiral, zigzag, and Ω-shaped turns, to suit the mountainous terrain, and specially designed mountain-climbing locomotives. It has great industrial and cultural value.
Taiwan Public Television and Japan’s NHK collaborated to produce the documentary “Shenmu Forest: A Journey on the Alishan Forest Railway”, which uses 8K resolution and a 22.2 multi-channel sound system. The Forestry Bureau also published a trilingual book in Chinese, English and Japanese, “Echoes of 2,421 Meters Up: A Travelogue of the Alishan Forest Railway”, presenting the magnificent scenery and rich railway culture of Alishan to the world.
In recent years, Taiwan’s railway tourism has become increasingly popular. In addition to the well-known forest railway, the sugar railway originally used to transport sugarcane has also begun to be transformed into a tourist railway. With the Chiayi Suantou Sugar Factory Cultural Park as the center, it connects the Chiayi High Speed Rail Station and the National Palace Museum Southern Branch. It is Taiwan’s first sugar railway that connects major transportation facilities and important cultural attractions across the country. At the same time, the Taiwan Sugar Retro Train is still running in the Xinying Railway Scenic Area.
In addition, the retro blue train “Breeze Blue Train” that often runs on the South Link Line has also been very popular since its opening in 2021. These retro trains are gradually reshaping the landscape of Taiwan’s railway tourism.
Contact information
Marketing Center│Central News Agency
Name: Luo Tsuei-yi
Source: Central News Agency
Reporter: PR Wire
Editor: PR Wire
Copyright © ANTARA 2024
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