'Beep Beep Taiwan' tourism promotion train begins 6-month run

New Taipei, July 4 (CNA) The Tourism Administration brought back an award-winning train livery used in Japan last year and painted it on a Taiwan Railway EMU700 commuter train, which entered service Friday for a six-month run to promote local tourism in the northeast.

Taiwan Railway's EMU700 train, repainted with what was first called BiBiBiBi! Taiwan livery when it was used for a tourism promotion campaign in Greater Tokyo from June 7-Sept. 28, 2024, was inaugurated for service at Shulin Station in New Taipei.

The EMU700 train's silver carriage was covered in the classic red used for the Keikyu 1000 series model along with specially designed kanji -- Chinese characters used in Japan -- for Taiwan, which shows popular Taiwanese products, including orchids, tea and pineapples.

Tourism Administration Director-General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀), who just took up the post on June 27, said she proposed to her predecessor the idea of bringing the special train's look back to Taiwan after it won an award from the Tokyo Outdoor Advertising Association in March.

Chen said the Tourism Administration is working on getting more Japanese visitors to Taiwan, and she hoped the tourism train between Yilan and destinations in Keelung, Greater Taipei and Taoyuan can draw more visitors to the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area.

Taiwan Railway Corp. Chairman James Jeng (鄭光遠) also announced at the ceremony in New Taipei that he had decided to extend the run of the train called "Beep Beep Taiwan" from the originally planned three months to six months.

Jeng said the goal is to promote tourism businesses in New Taipei's Ruifang and Gongliao districts as well as in Yilan County.

Meanwhile, the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Headquarters under the Tourism Administration highlighted in a statement the ongoing Fulong International Sand Sculpture Arts Festival that runs until Sept. 30 and other attractions related to the former mining town of Jiufen in New Taipei.