Aug 9, 2022

Taisugar buys retro rail cars for line By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA Taiwan Sugar Co (Taisugar) has ordered 21 passenger cars, designed to match the style of the company’s old cargo trains, to cater to tourists on a planned line connecting the Chiayi High-Speed Railway (HSR) Station to the National Palace Museum’s southern branch. The line, with tracks to match the Taisugar standard track width of 76.2cm, would run from Taisugar’s Suantou Sugar Factory (蒜頭糖廠) in Chiayi County to the HSR station, and on to the museum, Taisugar’s Yunlin-Chiayi regional office said late last month. The plan, approved by the Executive Yuan in August last year, had separated the construction of the first-phase of the line into two sections, the first running from the Suantou factory to the HSR station, with the line to the museum to open later. Railway cars designed to look like Taiwan Sugar Co’s old cargo trains are pictured at the firm’s Suantou Sugar Factory in Chiayi County in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA The first section is expected to open on Double Ten National Day on Oct. 10, Taisugar said. Taisugar said that once the entire line is opened to the public in August next year, it would feature the company’s iconic blue train cars, which used to transport goods between Chiayi County and Yunlin County’s Beigang Township (北港). The original cars used by Taisugar were considered too old and unsuitable for passengers or tourists, and it thanked National Palace Museum Director Wu Mi-cha (吳密察) for his suggestion to order new passenger cars painted in the retro style. The trains would be powered by a Diepholzer Maschinenfabrik Fritz Schottler locomotive, Taisugar said. In addition to connecting Taisugar’s Suantou factory to the museum’s southern branch, it would also help bolster the county’s tourism by providing easy-to-access sites from the HSR station, Taisugar said. Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.