台湾春天之旅 2013-Crash course to taking trains in Taiwan

A few of my friends asked me about taking trains in Taiwan after my trips. Seems difficult to some trying to figure out the steps. But if you really try to understand enough, it is not that difficult after all.

That being said, we don't really have a railway system in Singapore, unless you count KTM which most of us don't even take.

So before I forget my experiences, let me document down what I have learnt from my previous trips.

Prior to my trips, I will always refer to Taiwan Railways Adminstration (TRA) website to check out timings of the train. This is pretty essential if you are travelling longer distance like to Taichung or South Taiwan.

Also, it is useful to plan you trip if you interested to travel to Pingxi or Jiji Line where train frequencies are not that high.

http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx#

Of course, this is presuming if you know the English name of the station and the subline or area you are travelling to.

Subline/station selections

Using "Quick Search"  you select the Area/Subline you are taking, then followed by the station.
I always google the station name if I am not too sure which area/subline the station falls under.

For instance when travelling to Ershui which is the transfer station for Jiji Line, I mistakenly thought it is under Taichung Line(台中） but in fact it falls under Changhua Line(章化）and I didn't know Changhua has its own line. All along I thought it is part of Taichung.

Select the area & station name

Trains type/ date selection

I usually will select All types of train since express trains don't stop at smaller stations and their frequencies are not that high. Local train though have higher frequencies and cheaper travelling prices but it has 1 of the longest travelling time too as it will stop at every station along the way. Also, you are not guarantee a seat in local train. So it pretty much depends on your requirements.

Since I planned way before the trip, the selection of my desired date might not be available. I think the latest you can see is 2months from the day you are checking. Usually I will select the day that is similar to my travelling day. i.e if I plan to take this particular route on a Tuesday, I would select a Tuesday to check out the schedules.

Not that the difference would be big but some routes have extra trips on weekends so if you travelling on a weekday, there might be no such timing.

Hit "Search" after you selected all the require fields

Search results

Search results

A list of timing of trains will be reflected in the results screen. Here, estimated time of departure/ arrival will be shown. Fares and estimated travelling time will also be indicated.

If you click on the train code, it will also show the list of stations that the train passes through. It is not very essential but I usually will print it out so that I know if I am nearing my destination during travel.

List of stations

With these, it makes things much easier while planning my trip and also the cost of travel.

Of course the timings here are indicative. You will only get to know whether there is any delay during the actual travelling day.

Purchasing of tickets

I did not figure out how to buy tickets from the machines and thus I always queued up at the counter to purchase the tickets. All you have to do is to tell the sales your destination and time of train you wanna take and no. of tickets.

If you really must take any particular timing, it is best if you booked or purchase before hand as tickets might be sold out especially on weekends on the more popular routes. We didn't managed to get on the 9am train bound to Ruifang on a Saturday as it was sold out. End up taking a later train and missed the connecting Pingxi train. The day's schedules got pushed back quite a lot.

I did try to purchase advance tickets 1 day prior to my departure as I am afraid of it getting sold out. But the stress is that you have to stick strictly to the timing while preparing to leave the place. 

Train schedules at stations

If you did not check the timings before hand, you can do so at the station too. For example in Taipei Main station, there is a huge board indicating the trains for the day and whether they would be on time or delayed.

But here, they would only show where the train is bound and not the list of stations the train will pass thru so unless you know which line to take, the information is pretty useless.

Alternatively you can check with the counter staff but it would jammed up the queue and also you will be hurried to make the decision once you are informed of the next train timing during long queues or peak hours.

I don't really like this kind of feeling and thus would check before hand. 

Train schedules at Taipei Main station

Train schedules in Keelung station

Train scheules in Taichung station

 But if you are at smaller stations travelling within the subline, you can just depend on the timings in the station as the frequency is pretty fast. It just depend on the fact on whether you want to pay more of a ticket on the express train or less for local train ticket. Difference would not be substantial unless you are on really tight budget.

When we are travelled between Jiaoxi (礁溪）， Yilan （宜兰） & Luodong (罗东）. We brought the tickets from sales counter by checking their printed schedules. If you are not travelling far from the subline, it is not very essential to check the timing beforehand even if you want to travel on impromptu to other parts in Yilan line. But you must also know which side to take as there are 2 routes, 1 travelling towards Taipei and the other towards Taitung.

I did however, print out a list of stations before and after Jiaoxi to understand the direction of train I will be taking. It is not too difficult as we can check with the counter staff. The stations here are smaller and thus there will only be 1 or 2 ticketing counters.

I am not sure whether the ticketing counter staff can speak English or not as I conversed in Mandarin with them.

Train schedules in Jiaoxi station

Similarly when we are at Ershui(二水) checking timing back to Taichung station(台中）, we checked using their printed schedules. Reason being, we are a bit out of our initial planning and I didn't prepared other timings print out to check. The schedules are quite easy to understand for they did state the timing and stations the train will make a stop.

But here, it is totally in chinese so you must really be able read the words. If all else fails, ask. I am sure someone might be able to help though.

Train schedule in Ershui station

 Boarding the train

It is essential to know where to board your train in Taiwan train stations for there are usually 2 platforms. 1 serves the clockwise direction and the other the anticlockwise. 

But for the case of Taipei station, there are 4 platforms, 3A, 3B, 4A & 4B, that is if my memory does not failed me. You will need to check which platform to go to upon entering the station since the train stops for a while only, you might not have enough time to rush to the correct platform. I usually will double confirm with the station master while entering the station. 

As a rough guide, Platform 3A serves Western line South bound trains going to Banqiao, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Pingtung. 

Platform 3B serves Eastern Line Northbound train going to Banqiao, Shulin.

Platform 4A Western Line North bound trains going to Song Shan, Keelung

Platform 4B serves Eastern Line South bound train going to Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Kaohsiung

For instance, if you are going to Jiaoxi which is on Yilan line, you should wait for your train at Platform 4B. 

Even that, since the train frequency is high, you should check the train no. of the arriving train. Usually prior to the train arrival, the indicating board would display the arriving train information, stations it is passing through etc. They would also have English display but you must be alert enough not to miss. 

The next arriving train might not be yours since there can be a delay or you might be too early. 

Announcing arrival of the train

 Kmowing which type of train you are taking also helps as you can differentiate by the train's outlook whether it is local train, Chu-Kuang Express, Tze-Chiang Express or Taroko Express. Usually Express trains will skip quite a lot of smaller stations and thus if you board it accidentally, you might end up somewhere far from your destination.
 

Local train

Chu Kuang express train

Taroko Express train

 

Tze Chiang Express on the right

All stations will indicate the general direction of the trains, so its a rough guide for you to know where to board the train. 

Understanding the train tickets

Train tickets for Express trains like Chu-Kuang, Tze-Chiang and Taroko pretty much look the same.
It will state Train number, departure and arrival station, estimated departure and arrival time, carriage number, Seat number and price of tickets. Not difficult to understand in my opinion.

Tickets for Tze Chiang Express

 An experience of us is once while travelling back to Taipei station, we board an Express train while holding a local train ticket. Being the 1st time there, we did not even know we board the wrong train.

All we did is asked whether the train is going back to Taipei and hoped on happily and found seats. And there is no train master to check our tickets, perhaps due to the short distance from Song Shan to Taipei.

But as we are exiting Taipei station, the station master informed us that we had board the wrong train, tickets are more expensive for Express train and thus we are "fined". I forgot the amount but since it's for 1 station only, it is not too expensive.

Tickets for Chu Kuang Express

After that, I make it a point to check whether it is the correct train we are boarding. For if you are travelling on long distance, you might not get a seat with the wrong tickets as seats are pre-assigned during purchase. You are also subjected to a fine if you board the train of higher amount that your tickets.

There are train masters checking your tickets on long distance trains. Usually they will start checking when the trains moves out of Taipei district.

Tickets for Taroko Express

Tickets for local train however, have no train and seat numbers stated. Its free seating on the carriages. You will have to surrender the tickets while exiting the station for some reason unknown to me.

Tickets for Local train

This is basically what I have gathered during my 3 trips to Taiwan. We used the railway more intensively during the most recent trip and is impressed by their system. Cheap and efficient it makes travelling through the cities a breeze. Hope it does help :)