Kaohsiung Main Station

Kaohsiung Main Station (Chinese: 高雄車站; pinyin: Gāoxióng chēzhàn) is a railway and metro station in Sanmin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan served by the Taiwan Railways and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit. It is one of four special class stations, the highest class with the most services. It is currently undergoing reconstruction, scheduled to be complete in 2024.^[10]

Kaohsiung 高雄
TRA railway station
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	高雄
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gāoxióng Bopomofo ㄍㄠ ㄒㄩㄥˊ Hakka Romanization Gó-hǐung (Sixian dialect) Gò-hiung (Hailu dialect) Southern Min Tâi-lô Ko-hiông
General information
Location	318 Jianguo 2nd Rd Sanmin District, Kaohsiung[1] Taiwan
Coordinates	22.6396°N 120.3021°E / 22.6396; 120.3021[1]
Line(s)	Western Trunk line   South-link line
Distance	399.8 km to Keelung via Taichung[2]
Connections	Rapid transit Local bus Coach
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Other information
Station code	185 (three-digit)[1] 1238 (four-digit)[1] A92 (statistical)[3]
Classification	Special class (Chinese: 特等)[4]
Website	www.railway.gov.tw/kaohsiung/ (in Chinese)
History
Opened	22 June 1941; 83 years ago (1941-06-22)
Rebuilt	14 October 2018; 6 years ago (2018-10-14)
Electrified	29 June 1979; 45 years ago (1979-06-29)[5]
Previous names	Takau (Chinese: 打狗) Takao (Japanese: 高雄)
Key dates
1900-11-29	Predecessor station opened[6][7]
2002-03-27	Rebuilt
Passengers
2017	14.196 million per year[3]  2.19%
Rank	8 out of 228
Services
Preceding station Taiwan Railway Following station Sankuaicuo towards Keelung Western Trunk line Terminus Terminus South-link line Minzu towards Taitung
Location Kaohsiung Location within Taiwan

Kaohsiung Main Station R11 高雄車站
Kaohsiung metro station
Platform
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	高雄車站
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gāoxióng Chēzhàn Bopomofo ㄍㄠ ㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄔㄜ ㄓㄢˋ
General information
Location	B3F 320 Jianguo 2nd Rd Sanmin District, Kaohsiung Taiwan
Line(s)	Red line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Other information
Station code	R11
Website	www.krtco.com.tw/en/guide_r11.aspx
History
Opened	7 April 2008; 16 years ago (2008-04-07)[8]
Rebuilt	5 September 2018; 6 years ago (2018-09-05)
Passengers
2017	10.772 million per year[9]
Rank	2 out of 37
Services
Preceding station Kaohsiung Metro Following station Houyi towards Gangshan Red line Formosa Boulevard towards Siaogang

History

The main railway station serving Kaohsiung, formerly known as Takau (Chinese: 打狗) and Takao (高雄), was located at Hamasen. It opened in 1900 and served trains to Tainan. The Fengshan (then Hōzan (Japanese: 鳳山)) line opened in 1907. The station at the current site was built between 1933 and 1941. Towards the end of the century, it was decided that the railway was to be moved underground within Kaohsiung. A temporary station building was used between 2002 and 2018, when the underground station was partially opened. A temporary metro station was also used between 2008 and 2018. Construction on the remaining segments of the project is scheduled to be complete in 2024.

The rebuilt station was designed to accommodate the proposed extension of Taiwan High Speed Rail. However, on 27 September 2019, the Pingtung extension was confirmed to bypass central Kaohsiung.^[11]

TRA railway

1941 station building

The TRA portion is a three-level underground railway station with two island platforms.^[12][13] The 1941 station building is planned to be moved back to the original position for display.

The TRA railway in Kaohsiung also serves as a commuter rail. Nevertheless, the railway in Kaohsiung only has the capacity of double-track, making it difficult to allow many^[quantify] such shuttle trains as EMU800 for domestic transportation to run through at once.^[14]

Metro

The rapid transit station is a two-level, underground station with one entrance.^[15] It is located at Jianguo 2nd Road. On 5 September 2018, it was relocated 100 metres north, making it the first metro station in Taiwan to be relocated. The new platforms are lengthened to allow for six carriages up from three. The former concourse and platforms are closed and reserved for emergency use.

KMRT Station

Old railway map of Kaohsiung

Former metro entrance

Former concourse

• 2008-03-09: Red line between Ciaotou and Siaogang opened.

Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA)

Western line

Pingtung Line

Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit

Red Line

High-speed rail

There was originally a plan for the HSR tracks to be constructed underground from Zuoying HSR station to this station together with the planning of the TRA tracks being moved underground. However, due to the fact that the construction of the HSR extension would be at a relatively high cost, it was decided to only begin moving the TRA in Kaohsiung underground, and the HSR would terminate at Zuoying. Even though no space was reserved for the HSR during construction of the TRA underground project, space has still been reserved at Kaohsiung Main Station to set up HSR platforms.

Health concerns

A team from NSYSU examined air quality in Kaohsiung main station on early October 2019 and found that the PM2.5 was 17 times higher than that of standard, putting passengers and workers at risk of getting lung disease.^[16] Trains equipped with diesel engine that run through South-Link Line, the only single-track and non-electrified railway in Taiwan, were to blame.^[16]

Around the station

• Chang-Gu World Trade Center
• Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School
• Kaohsiung Vision Museum
• Sankuaicuo Station
• Sanfong Central Street
• Sanfeng Temple
• Jianguo Rd. Computer Market
• Changming Rd. Clothing, Electronics, and Spare Parts Market
• Kaohsiung Bus Station
• Kuo-Kuang Motor Transportation Co., Aloha Bus Co., United Bus Co., Ho-Hsin Bus Traffic Co. Stations

See also

• List of railway stations in Taiwan

References

1. "車站基本資料集". Taiwan Railways Administration. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
2. 各站營業里程-1.西部幹線. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
3. 臺鐵統計資訊. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). 2002. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
4. 車站數-按等級別分 (PDF). Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
5. 臺灣鐵路電訊. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
6. 高雄港站前世今生. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). 11 December 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
7. 車站簡介. Taiwan Railways Administration (in Chinese). 11 December 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
8. 捷運計畫 - 紅橘線路網 - 興建暨施工期程. Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 August 2018.
9. 統計資料預告發布及背景說明. Accounting and Statistics Office, Kaohsiung City (in Chinese). Retrieved 29 August 2018.
10. "工程管理- 工程進度- ACL212標高雄車站段地下化(明挖覆蓋)工程". 交通部鐵道局 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 15 July 2021.
11. "Taiwan's Pingtung high-speed rail line ..." Taiwan News. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
12. 交通部鐵路改建工程局－歡迎頁. www.rrb.gov.tw (in Chinese). 25 April 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
13. 高雄市政府捷運工程局網頁. mtbu.kcg.gov.tw (in Chinese). 8 August 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
14. 陳文嬋 (2018-10-17). "台鐵高雄區間車比台中少2成5 地方要求提高運輸效率 - 生活". 自由時報電子報 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2018-12-08.
15. "高雄車站". 高雄捷運公司. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
16. 徐如宜、蔡容喬、王慧瑛 (2019-11-03). "乘客掩鼻站務員喊苦…柴油車進高雄站 空汙超標17倍". 聯合新聞網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-11-05.

External links

• TRA Kaohsiung Station (in Chinese)
• Taiwan Railways Administration (in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean)
• KRTC Kaohsiung Main Station (in English, Chinese, and Japanese)