Travelling to Taiwan

Taiwan is an island that is located east of China and south of Japan. Being an island, it is not connected to any other country by railway network. However, for travelling within the country, several trains are available from major cities like Taipei, Kaohsuing and Taichung.

All the conventional trains are operated by Taiwan Rail Administration, whereas high speed trains are operated by Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corporation.

The largest railway station in Taiwan is Taipei Station that is located in Zhongzheng District of Taipei city. This underground station operates multiple rail services. Trains operated by Taiwan railway administration, Taipei Rapid Transit System and Taiwan High Speed Rail operate from this station.

It also serves as the headquarters of the Taiwan Railway Administration. East bound and west bound trains use platform 3 and 4 at B2 level. This station is also a hub for Danshui Line and Nangang Line of Taipei Rapid Transit System. Taiwan High Speed Rail also operates trains from this station that use platform 1 and 2 at B2 level.

Another major station of Taiwan is Kaohsiung Station that is served by the western line of the Taiwan Railway Administration. Kaohsiung MRT Red Line also serves this station, apart from Pingtung Line and Kaohsiung Harbor Line.

Taichung Station is another railway station of Taiwan that is located in Taichung City. Trains of the western line that are operated by Taiwan Railway Administration serve the station.

Located in Renai district of Keelung City, Keelung Station is another major station in Taiwan. Trains of western and eastern line that are operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration serve this station.

In the eastern region of Taiwan, Hualien Station is the main railway station. It serves as a terminal station of North-Link Line trains that are operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration. Further, it is also the starting point of the Hwa-tung Line.
 
Train Routes        
Operated by the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, the trains with a speed of 300 km per hour run between the two major cities, Taipei and Kaohsuing. Available at an interval of every 15 minutes, these trains take 1 hour 40 minutes to reach the destination.           

Another popular train route is the western main line that is operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration. This line links Keelung, Taipei and Kaohsiung by normal trains. Tze Chiang express is the best train on this route, which is fully air-conditioned. With a speed of 130 km per hour, it takes 4 hours to reach the terminal station. Chu Kuang and Fu shin are the other low level trains on this line.

Taiwan Rail Administration also operates trains on the eastern line that connects Taipei to Hualien and Taitung. Taroko express, which is a high-speed electric tilting train, operates on this line on an hourly basis.

For tourists, special trains operate in Taiwan that takes them on a day trip around the island. Two trains operate daily, out of which one leaves from Taipei and travels across Hualien and Taitung on the eastern mainline.

This train returns to Taipei after travelling through the south coast via western mainline. Another tourist train travels across western mainline and goes around the south coast and eastern mainline.

Taiwan also has scenic railway lines like Neiwan Line, Pingsi line and Jiji line. Other railways that take tourists on a scenic journey are Alishan Forest Railway, Taiwan Sugar Railways and the Taiping Mountain Forest Railway, among many others.

Fares
The trains of the Taiwan High Speed Rail have 3 classes, namely unreserved economy, reserved economy and business class. For travelling in reserved economy, the fare is 2309.51 INR, whereas travelling in business class costs around 3022.52 INR.

The Tze Chiang train on the western line is air conditioned. Travellers also get an on-seat refreshment trolley service. One way trip from Taipei to Kaohsiung in this train costs around 1309.76 INR.

Travelling on the same route, the fare for the Chu Kuang train service from Taipei to Kaohsiung is around 843.205 INR.  

Tourist trains that travel around the island are luxury trains, with aircraft-style first class seats, lounge and buffet car. The fare for this train is around 3410.02 INR.

Travellers are given a special tourist ticket for 124.001INR that allows tourists to get off anywhere en route. Tourists with tickets can also re-board any train on the same day.