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	Above:  Taipei main station, used by both conventional trains & the new high-speed trains to Kaohsiung.  Photos courtesy of James Chuang

Taiwan is a large island south of Japan and east of the Chinese mainland.  When the communists took over in China in 1949, ousted leader Chiang Kai Shek retreated to Taiwan with his government, defiantly retaining the name 'Republic of China' (ROC).  It should not be confused with The People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland!

Taipei - Kaohsiung by 300 km/h high-speed train.

Keelung - Taipei - Kaohsiung (western main line)

Taipei - Hualien - Taitung (eastern main line)

Tourist trains around the island

Other routes

Getting to Taiwan without flying:  Ferry China-Taiwan.

A modern rail system links most large towns and cities in Taiwan, and a new high-speed (300km/h) railway opened in January 2007 between the two biggest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.  Map of Taiwan rail network.

Taipei - Kaohsiung (by 300 km/h high-speed trains)...

A brand-new high speed (300 km/h) train service using Japanese bullet train technology started running in January 2007 between Taipei and Kaohsiung.  It is run by the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation, www.thsrc.com.tw (English button top right).

• 300km/h trains link Taipei and Kaohsiung every 15 minutes throughout the day, at times more frequently;

• journey time 1 hour 40 minutes on the limited-stop trains, 1 hour 55 minutes on other services;

• There are 3 classes:  Unreserved economy, reserved seat economy, & business class;

• Off-peak fares (Monday to Thursday):  Reserved seat economy class 1,190 Taiwan Dollars (£20 or $40), 1,070 Taiwan dollar (£18 or $38) for unreserved economy class and 1,560 Taiwan dollar (£26 or $42) for business class.

• Peak fares (Friday, Saturday, Sunday & public holidays):  1,490 Taiwan dollars (£25 or $40) in reserved economy, 1,340 dollars (£23 or $36) for unreserved economy class and 2,440 Taiwan dollars (£40 or $70) for business class. Travelling Monday to Thursday during off peak period in during off peak period.

• The station in Kaohsiung is actually at Zuoying in the north of the city.  You can take a frequent Taiwan Railway Administration local train from New Zuoying station (in the same building as the Zuoying high speed station) to Kaohsiung main station in the city centre, journey time 10 minutes, or you can take the Kaohsiung Metro (red line), also taking 10 minutes, metro website www.krtco.com.tw.  You can buy tickets for the local train from the ticket machines or staffed kiosks, and metro tickets from the machines near the metro platforms.  Buses are also available to the city centre, including a free shuttle bus between Zuoying and the CBD areas of Hsin Chu,Tainan & Taoyuan.  An extension of the high-speed line to a station in Kaohsiung city centre is planned for the future.

• In Taipei, the high-speed trains use the same station as the Taiwan Railways Corporation conventional trains.  Taipei metro: http://english.trtc.com.tw/.

• For times, fares & online booking, see www.thsrc.com.tw (English button at upper right).

Taiwanese high speed train		Business class		Economy class
Photos courtesy of  Shigeyuki Kaneko

Keelung - Taipei - Kaohsiung (by conventional trains, western line)...

The western main line links Keelung, Taiwan's capital Taipei and its second city and major port, Kaohsiung.  For a route map, see http://service.tra.gov.tw/EN/index.aspx or http://johomaps.com/as/taiwan/taiwanrail.html, for train times, fares & online booking see the official Taiwan Railways Administration website, www.railway.gov.tw (English version available, online booking only available 06:00-21:00).  The best trains are the 'Tze Chiang' expresses which run at up to 130 km/h (80mph), are fully air-conditioned and take as little as 4 hours.  Only one very comfortable class of seating is provided on these trains, with an at-seat trolley refreshment service.  The Tze Chiang train fare is NT$ 845 (£14 or $27) one-way.

A Tze Chiang train on the line to Su Ao. Photo courtesy of Peter Voelger		Inside the Tze Chiang train Photo courtesy of Peter Voelger

The next best train type, with slightly less comfortable seating but also air-conditioned, is the Chu Kuang train service, Taipei-Kaohsiung fare NT$ 544  (£9 or $17), journey 6.5 hours.  The next train type down the range is the Fu shin, with less legroom.

Taipei to Hualien & Taitung (Eastern main line)

Taiwan Rail Administration provides generally hourly express trains on the scenic eastern line.  From late 2007 new 'Taroko express' high-speed (130km/h) electric tilting trains were introduced, providing an hourly service between Taipei and Hualien, with several services continuing along the scenic valley to Taitung.  All seats must be reserved.  For times, fares & online booking, see www.railway.gov.tw.

Above:  Taroko Express between Taipei & Hualien... Photo courtesy of James Chuang		Above:  Inside a Taroko Express... Photo courtesy of James Chuang

Tourist trains around Taiwan island...

From May 2008, two daily tourist trains started running right around the island in one day.  One service leaves Taipei, via Hualien, Taitung on the eastern mainline, around south coast and return to Taipei via western mainline in clockwise direction (train number 2080), the other goes anti-clockwise via the western mainline first, around the south coast and along the eastern mainline back to Taipei (train number 2079).  These trains offer a higher class of travel with large aircraft-style first class seats, lounge and buffet car.  The cost for the whole trip around the island is approximately 2,200 Taiwan dollars (£37 or $58).  There are also tours available in various places on the way for those wanting to stop off.  Seats on the tourist train must be reserved.  The train is a joint venture between Taiwan Rail Administration & a private company called EZ Travel, for information see  www.eztravel.com.tw/package1.

Other scenic routes...

3 scenic railway branches are also worth a visit.  The Neiwan Line takes in a river, Hakka museums, temples, Hakka culture cafes and restaurants.  The Pingsi line takes in waterfalls, a river, tourist coal mine, cafes and restaurants and various culture festivities.  The  Jiji line passes mountains, historical village and houses, cafes and restaurants, several through services available from Taichung TRA railway station and Taichung high speed rail station.  These three lines offer a special tourist ticket, allowing tourists to get off where they like and reboard any train throughout the day for 80 Taiwan dollars.  This special tourist ticket is available at all major railway stations across Taiwan. All branch line trains are air conditioned.

Sponsored links:

Japan to Taiwan by ferry:  Currently no service available... 

Sadly, the twice-weekly ferry run by Arimura Sangyo Lines links between Japan & Taiwan was discontinued in June 2008.  For the record, the Arimura website is www.arimuraline.co.jp but it's in Japanese only, sailing times in English used to be posted on http://www.tokai-kyowa.co.jp/english/i_ferry01.html which may have info on alternatives or any resumption in service, though this seems unlikely.  It's reported that Star Cruises (www.starcruises.com) may have occasional cruise sailings between Japan & Taiwan, you fill out a form and they contact you if they have anything suitable.  Not cheap, and it's not clear if they will allow on-way voyages.

China to Taiwan by ferry...

You can travel between mainland China and mainland Taiwan in two stages, by first taking a short ferry ride from Fuzhou in China to the Matsu island group (part of Taiwan), then a ferry from Matsu to Keelung on mainland Taiwan.  With Trans-Siberian trains linking Europe with China, you can travel all the way between Europe & Taiwan this way.  Here are the ferry timetables and fares for these two services:

Fuzhou (China) ► Matsu (Taiwan)				Matsu (Taiwan) ► Fuzhou (China)
Ferry service...	Daily	Daily		Ferry service...	Daily	Daily
Fuzhou (Mawei ferry terminal) depart:	09:15	14:40		Matsu (Fu-ao) depart:	09:40	14:00
Matsu (Fu-ao) arrive:	10:45	15:30		Fuzhou (Mawei ferry terminal) arrive:	11:10	15:30

Fare:  NTD 1,300 one-way, NTD 2,500 return. 

For train services between Beijing & Fuzhou, see www.chinatravelguide.com.  For train service between Europe & Beijing via the Trans-Siberian Railway, see the Trans-Siberian page.

Matsu ►  Keelung (mainland Taiwan)			Keelung (mainland Taiwan) ► Matsu
Taima-Iun Ferry service...	Daily except Tuesdays		Taima-Iun Ferry service...	Daily except Tuesdays
Matsu (Fu-ao) depart:	09:30		Keelung (mainland Taiwan) depart:	21:50
Keelung (mainland Taiwan) arrive:	18:30		Matsu (Fu-ao) arrive:	08:30

Fares (one-way, per person):  Keelung to Matsu in 1st class 2-berth cabin NTD 1,890, in business class 4-berth cabin NTD 1,575, economy dormitory NTD 1,050, economy seat NTD 630.

Traveller Simon Grove-White reports:  "Restrictions on sea travel for foreign nationals were lifted around March 2009.  You can now take the Taima ferry from Keelung to Nangan Island in the Matsu group, then a small ferry from here to Mawei near Fuzhou.  Worth noting that it's impossible to change Taiwanese dollars in China and there are no cash points near the port so changing money in advance is a must.  The last section between Matsu and Mawei is an awesome first view of China - gorgeous coastline giving way to a dystopian nightmare of smokestacks, cranes and unfinished concrete, as you travel up the river. And our captain was so excited at having a pair of foreigners on board that he burst into a spontaneous rendition of Tom Jones.  The Taima leaves from the northern terminal of Keelung harbour at 11pm [see timetable above for current times] and takes around 10 hours to reach Nangan Island - this is the second stop after Dongquan. In May 2009 this cost around NT$500 (£10) for a 3rd-class bed alongside the military conscripts.  At the time we went it wasn't possible to do the journey the other way but this was set to change as diplomatic relations continue to thaw. There was also talk of a direct ferry between Kaohsiung and Xiamen but I don't think that's materialised yet.

The Macau-Taiwan ferry has been permanently suspended.  There are also ferries between the Taiwanese outlying island of Kinmen to Xiamen in southern China (30 minute crossing, as the islands lie just off the Chinese coast), and also from the island of Matsu, although there are now no ferries between mainland Taiwan and Kinmen, over 200 kilometres away. 

New ferry China to mainland Taiwan?  One report suggests a ferry from China to Keelung on mainland Taiwan was due to start in September 2009, but although this news item refers to it, the ferry operator's website worryingly makes no mention of this alleged new service, so perhaps it did not start as planed.  If you have any more information, please e-mail me.  For overland travel from the UK & Europe to China, see the Trans-Siberian page.

Feedback needed!

If you've any information or photos that would help improve this page for future travellers, please e-mail me

It's probably the most adventurous timetable ever produced... The famous Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable has train, bus and ferry times for Taiwan, Japan, China, in fact all of Asia, America, Africa & Australasia.  It is published every two months.  No serious overland traveller should be without it..!

It costs £13.99 from the bureau de change in any UK branch of Thomas Cook, or it can be ordered by phone on 01733 416477 (+44 1733 416477 from outside the UK).

Buy online at www.thomascooktimetables.com (worldwide delivery).  Alternatively, you can buy the twice-yearly  Independent Traveller's edition at Amazon.co.uk also with shipping worldwide.

It's easy to book hotels in Taiwan or anywhere else, just use the search box below.  This links to www.hotelscombined.com, a free search tool which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere, Asiarooms and many others) to find just about the widest range of hotels with the cheapest rates on the net.  Set up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place to start for booking any hotel online in any country, worldwide.

		◄◄◄ Search all the major hotel booking websites at once...
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Backpacker hostels...

If you're on a tight budget, don't forget the hostels.  For a dorm bed or an ultra-cheap private room in backpacker hostels in most worldwide cities use www.hostelbookers.com.

Overland travel by train around Taiwan is an essential part of the experience, so once there, don't cheat and fly, stay on the ground!  But a long-haul flight might be unavoidable to reach Taiwan in the first place.  For flights to Taipei, start with Opodo.com.  Opodo is a flight-booking site started by a consortium of airlines and Amadeus, and it's normally where I start looking for a flight myself.  Seat61 gets a small commission through this link.

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