National Railway Museum to partially open July 31: Culture ministry

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) The National Railway Museum is to partially open to the public on July 31 after nine years of restoration work at the historical site formerly known as the Taipei Railway Workshop, allowing visitors to revisit an important period in Taiwan's railway history.

The areas to be opened to the public include a diesel workshop, a technician training institute, a materials testing institute, an assembly hall, a bathhouse, and a children's area with trains built using toy blocks, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) said in a statement on Monday.

In addition, a 335-meter passageway that bisects the complex in Taipei's Songshan District will also be available for public use, acting as a footpath linking Civic Boulevard and Keelung Road, the MOC said.

This will improve pedestrian access, enhance neighborhood connectivity, and offer visitors a close-up view of the site's historic architecture and skyline of industrial rooftops, it said.

People will be able to visit three permanent and three special exhibitions at the museum, covering topics from locomotives, the diesel factory, the bathhouse to Taiwan's railway history and culture, and the life of late railway photographer Ku Jen-jung (古仁榮).

The MOC explained that Taipei Railway Workshop was relocated from the Beimen area to its current site and completed in 1935, where it served for decades as Taiwan's hub for train maintenance, assembly and repair.

After the workshop was relocated to the Fugang Vehicle Depot in 2012, public advocacy led to the entire 17-hectare site being declared a national historic site in 2015.

In December 2016, the Cabinet approved a plan to transform the workshop into a museum, and by 2019, restoration work had begun, and a museum preparatory office was established.

The project adopted a phased approach: full-area preparation, sectional restoration and phased public openings.

The museum will be open every Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the MOC said.