Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) was a governmental agency in Taiwan which operated Taiwan Railway from 1948 to 2023. It managed, maintained, and operated conventional passenger and freight

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

services on of track. Passenger traffic in 2018 was 231,267,955. On 1 January 2024, Taiwan Railway Administration became a state-owned corporation, Taiwan Railway Corporation. The agency's headquarters was at

Taipei Main Station Taipei Main Station () is a major metro and railway station in the capital Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taipei Metro, the Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Taiwan Railway. It is also connected through underground passageways to Taipei main stati ...

Zhongzheng District Zhongzheng District (also Jhongjheng District) is a District (Taiwan), district in Taipei, Taiwan. Taipei Main Station is located in the district. It is home to most of the national government buildings of Taiwan. Overview The district is n ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

at the time of dissolution, the site which became the headquarter of the new company.

History

Teng-Yung locomotive in Taipei Railway Workshop 1999-01

The railway between Keelung and Hsinchu was completed during the Qing era in 1893. In 1895, the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

ceded Formosa (Taiwan) to the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

after the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. The line was about in length but in a poor condition when the Japanese arrived. The railway was rebuilt and expanded under the of the Government-General of Taiwan during Japanese rule. Following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, TRA was founded as a government organisation that falls under transport office of Taiwan Provincial Government in 1948. In 1998, it was transferred to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) of the central government and employed around 13,500 people (4,700 in transportation and 7,700 in maintenance titles) and directly operated some 682 route miles of 3’6” (1,067 mm) gauge railways. Three mainlines form a complete circle around the island. TRA's West Coast line and Badu-Hualien section feature mostly double-track, electrification, modern colour light and cab signalling, overrun protection, and centralized traffic control (CTC). South-link line, east coast Taitung (converted from 762 mm gauge), and three “tourist” branches are non-electrified single-track with passing sidings.

Corporatization of TRA

Because of the several hundred-billions TWD of liabilities, and the legal person type of TRA is considered a block for elasticity operations of railway systems, there were several campaigns and groups set up that aim to take

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

and

corporatization Corporatization is the process of transforming and restructuring state assets, government agencies, public organizations, or municipal organizations into corporations. It involves the adoption and application of business management practices an ...

actions for TRA since 1990s. In May 2022 the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

approved the ''Act for Establishment of State-owned Taiwan Railway Co., Ltd.'' The legislation provided that TRA will transit to a state-owned railway company, set up a fund to handle debts of TRA, retain its employees, and consider raising salaries by 3~5%. TRA was incorporated as Taiwan Railway Corporation on January 1, 2024.

Notes

Words in native languages

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Taiwan Railways Administration
*Useful, user-friendly English website, including routes and schedules
Taiwan Railways Administration (English website)
{{Authority control Ministry of Transportation and Communications (Taiwan) Government agencies disestablished in 2023 Railway companies of Taiwan Railway companies established in 1948 Railway companies disestablished in 2023 1948 establishments in Taiwan 2023 disestablishments in Taiwan Government-owned railway companies