The first phase of Tainan’s railway undergrounding opened early on October 17. The final surface train left late on Friday night after people entered the tracks, and President Lai Ching-te again apologized to displaced households while insisting he ‘did not break his promise’.
According to the United Daily News (udn) and the Central News Agency (CNA), Taiwan Railway held a farewell event called ‘Last Night, Forever Tainan’ at Tainan Station on the night of October 16. Southbound Tze-Chiang Express No. 145, scheduled to leave at 10:29 p.m., became the last train to depart the surface platforms, and its driver sounded the horn three times as the century-old at-grade railway came to an end. The concourse and footbridge were packed, and many people filmed the departure.
광고 문의 · 300×250Accounts of the exact departure time differ slightly. The udn reported that the train left about 17 minutes late, at around 10:46 p.m., while CNA said the delay was roughly 10 minutes. Both outlets attributed the delay to someone entering the tracks or a level crossing. The reports do not say how many people were involved, what happened, or whether anyone was dealt with, and CNA places the incursion in Yunlin while udn describes it differently, so we do not state the location as fact.
Sixteen Years of Construction and Lingering Grievances
Construction began in 2010. The udn reported that opposition to shifting the tracks eastward and the discovery of buried cultural-heritage remains stretched the schedule beyond 16 years. The 8.23-kilometer first phase leaves no level crossings or elevated structures in the section; the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said during a July site visit that 23 crossings, underpasses, overpasses and culverts along the line would be dealt with.
More than 300 households were affected by demolition. The udn reported that two households never moved out, and one resident said her 100-year-old mother died the following year after being shaken by the demolition. Chen Chih-hsiao, who leads a residents’ self-help group, accused the government of land grabbing and said he would never ride the new line, while another resident is seeking a constitutional interpretation to challenge the process. These are residents’ views as relayed by the media; the government’s position follows below.
The President’s Apology and ‘Not the End’
President Lai attended the opening ceremony, honored the railway engineers and thanked residents along the route. The udn reported that he again apologized to some households for the demolitions and disruption, acknowledging that although the ministry and the Tainan city government adjusted the plans to reduce the impact, they could not preserve every family’s beloved home in full. He nonetheless argued that the promise he made as mayor, that land would not be expropriated for profit-making development, had been kept, citing the 30-meter-wide green boulevard along the line.
Transport Minister Chen Shih-kai was reported to have said the opening is ‘not the end’, but we could not directly verify that wording in the udn and CNA reports we reviewed. Confirmed follow-up plans include two underground commuter stations, Linsen and South Tainan, due in 2029 and 2030, and Lai said construction of the Tainan light-rail Blue Line is expected to begin this year, urging the next mayor to carry the policies forward.
The first underground service, Tze-Chiang No. 301, left Tainan around 6:30 a.m. on October 17 for Kaohsiung’s Zuoying. Railway officials said the crews switched to the underground tracks while keeping existing services running in a dense city center full of heritage sites. Whether the corridor once split by the tracks becomes the promised green belt and linear park, and how the remaining objections from households are resolved, are what to watch next.
