TRA Western Line

The TRA West Coast Main Line (Chinese: 西部幹線) is a railway line of the Taiwan Railway Administration running along Taiwan's densely populated western corridor. As a result of this, it remains the busiest rail line in Taiwan. In 2009, the line served over 164.3 million passengers, averaging 450,244 passengers per day. The concept "Western Line" is actually a combination of line sections as the following:

• Taiwan Trunk Line (縱貫線):
  • northern section: From Keelung Station to Zhunan Station
  • Coastal Line (Coast Line) (海線, 海岸線): From Zhunan Station to Changhua Station, through Taichung Harbor and the seaside areas of Miaoli County and Taichung City.
  • Taichung Line (Mountain Line) (山線, 台中線): From Zhunan Station to Changhua Station, through the inland areas of Miaoli County and Taichung City.
  • Chengzhui Line (成追線): A small section of railway connection Chenggong Station on the Mountain Line, and the Zhuifen Station on the Coastal Line.
  • southern Section: From Changhua Station to Kaohsiung Station
• Pingtung Line (屏東線): From Kaohsiung Station to Fangliao Station

The total length of the combined line of Taiwan Trunk Line is 408.5 km, of which 361.6 km is double track.

History

The original railroad between Keelung and Dadaocheng was completed in 1891. The section between Dadaocheng and Hsinchu was finished in 1893. However, these sections were all rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. The Western Line was completed in 1908. The Coastal Line, which was finished in 1922, was used to relieve congestion near Taichung.