The North-Link Line () is the central section of the Eastern Line of the

Taiwan Railways Administration Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is a railway operator in Taiwan. It is an agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, responsible for managing, maintaining, and running conventional passenger and freight railway services ...

. The length of its mainline is 79.2 km, and there is a 7.4 km long branch between Beipu and Hualien Port.

History

The high mountains and cliffs in eastern Taiwan, between Yilan and Hualien, is a major barrier to the transportation between northern Taiwan and eastern Taiwan. The highway was narrow and dangerous. Ferry service between Keelung and Hualien was an overnight trip. Thus in 1973 the construction of North-link line started. The line branched from

Yilan line The Yilan Line () is the northern section of the Eastern Line of the Taiwan Railways Administration in Taiwan. It has a length of 95 km. History This railroad was completed in 1924 as the Giran-sen during Imperial Japanese rule over Taiwan. ...

at Nan Sheng Hu in

Su'ao Su'ao Township (), alternately romanized as Su-ao, is located in southern Yilan County, Taiwan, is an urban township that is famous for its seafood restaurants and cold springs. It is a terminus of National Highway No. 5, the Su'ao-Hualien ...

, traveling through mountains and valleys with 91 tunnels and 16 bridges, and ended at a newly constructed Hualien Station. The line was completed in 1979 and was almost immediately overloaded in passenger and freight services. Despite

continued upgrading signals, tracks, and rolling stock of the line, the great demand could not be fulfilled. The line was then electrified in 2003 and expanded to two tracks (

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

) in January 2005.

Stations

Yongchun Station Yongchun station (formerly transliterated as Yungchun Station until 2003) is a station on the Bannan l