New Tainan railway station to open Oct. 17

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) The new Taiwan Railway Tainan Station is scheduled to open Oct. 17 as part of a major project to move the mainline rail infrastructure in the city underground, the Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Sunday.

Built next to the historic Tainan Station, the new station will allow the surrounding area to be redeveloped with a plaza, parking facilities, a transport hub and green space to improve connectivity and passenger access, the bureau said.

The new station will also be the first Taiwan Railway station to use a color-coded wayfinding system similar to that of the Taiwan High Speed Rail, with blue indicating northbound trains and green for southbound trains, according to Taiwan Railway Corp.

The new station is part of the Tainan Urban District Railway Underground Project, which aims to reconnect areas of the city divided by street-level railway tracks. The historic Tainan Station will be preserved as a heritage site, the bureau said.

The project covers an 8.23-kilometer section from the southern end of Daqiao Station to about 0.6 km south of Dalin Road, according to the bureau.

It also includes two new underground commuter stations, Linsen and South Tainan, which are scheduled to open in 2029 and 2030, respectively.

After the new station opens, the existing street-level railway tracks will be gradually dismantled, allowing work on the second phase, including landscaping and other above-ground facilities, to proceed.

Once completed, the project is expected to eliminate 23 railway crossings and other grade-separated intersections, including nine level crossings, eight underpasses and four overpasses, the bureau said.

Approved in 2009 as part of a broader effort to modernize Taiwan's railway system in metropolitan areas, the project is now expected to be completed in stages through 2031, it said.