After years of planning, it’s finally done: the railway line that loops around Taiwan is now fully electrified.
Until recently, the only thing electrifying about the South Link Line of Taiwan’s rail system was the view out the window. The trains themselves were diesel-powered. On Wednesday, though, that’s going to change for good.
Electrification of Taiwan’s railway system began in 1978, with the most heavily used stretch of track, which runs down the west coast. After that, progress stopped until the late 1990’s. It’s only in recent years that most of the rest of Taiwan’s railways have been upgraded with electric trains.
The final piece of the puzzle, a stretch of track that loops across Taiwan’s southern end, has only recently been electrified, and Wednesday is the day electric trains will officially take over this section of track. Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung gave the newly-electrified track a spin on December 17 in a preview of what’s to come.
Electrification is expected to shave dozens of minutes off travel times and encourage tourism to already-popular destinations on Taiwan’s idyllic east coast.