Taiwan2014之梅雨的季节-内湾线( Neiwan Line)

 Neiwan line (内湾线) is one of the 3 branch line in Taiwan railway that is cater to tourists. Having been to the more popular Pingxi (平溪）and Jiji（集集） Line in  Taipei and Nantou respectively, I am especially keen to see the last branch line that we have yet to visit.

六家车站

 To get to this line, we must make transit in stations along Hsinchu, hadn't it been our hosts are staying here, we might not find the time to visit this branch line since it is pretty out of the way.

Although it is possible to change to the train at Hsinchu which is 1 of the main stations that all trains will stop but the frequency of Neiwan train is not that high. Hence changing at other smaller stations will have better frequencies, then you take another train to Hsinchu if you need to travel on express trains to other main cities.

Train timings to Neiwan

 Liujia (where our hosts stayed) is on the same branch line as Neiwan though we will need to transit at Zhuzhong (竹中） station for the connecting train. Timing is 1 hour each train and travelling time is around 45min. Trains to&fro Liujia station is leaves every half an hour to Hsinchu station. Timing is not that great, hence we only managed to take the 16:10 train to Neiwan where we will arrive around 5pm which is starting to get dark.

Tea break @ Zhuzhong

We reached Zhuzhong at about 3:30pm having missed the 3:10 train to Neiwan, we have 40mins to kill time. The skies are starting to clear up and we decided to exit the station to look for food and mainly coffee for me.

Zhuzhong station

Checked with the station master and was told that there is a convenience store down the road. Most convenience stores in Taiwan cater seats for their customer to dine in the area varies. We were lucky that the store is pretty empty at this time save for a handful of students.

Brought some snacks here and began our teabreak and suddenly, a downpour came from no where and we were sadden by it. This means that we are going to be caught in the rain in Neiwan.

Selfie at Zhuzhong

Luckily, the rain subside as we neared departure time.  Went back to the station to catch the connecting train which will leaves at 4:10pm to Neiwan.

To get to Hsinchu HSR station, transfer @ Liujia station

Neiwan train

Station along Neiwan Line

We reached Neiwan at around 5pm and the evening sun greeted us brightly. Neiwan is a small and old looking station nested among the mountians. I read somewhere that the developments here were not as good as its cousin namely Pingxi line but still I am keen to visit here before it gets too commercialised like Pingxi.

Neiwan station front

It was a quiet station alright and the streets were quieter after a downpour. Not many shops were open for business either due to lack of tourists on a weekday or rainy day. We weren't able to see much activities here. Checked the timing of the next train before moving away frm the station. Weren't planning to stay long here.

Sunny evening in Neiwan

Near empty street in Neiwan

We came to an ice cream stall and decided to buy a cup to share under this cool weather.  But the ice cream is abit too bland for our liking and it took quite a while for us to finish it.

Eating ice cream in Neiwan

 We continued walking to the other end of the street and came to a 7-11 facing a bridge leading to some hilly areas. Since it is raining and our train is like 40min away,we didn't venture across the bridge though I am curious to find out what is across it.

Had seen some people crossing the bridge and coming back.

Bridge leading to some hill area

We sat in the 7-11 observing the surrounding while waiting for time to pass. There is really nothing much to do here or eat since most shops/stall are closed. Was a bit disappointed since we came all the way here to a dead town. Slowly made our way back to the station 15min prior to train arrival time.

Selfie against the mountain

We came back to the waiting area of Neiwan station which has long looking bench in the waiting area. The whole waiting area looks just like what it should have been since 1970s. Not sure whether they didn't renovate the station or had wanted to preserve the old look.

Benches for passengers

Neiwan line permits the use of Easy card and thus we need not buy tickets from the counter. If I am not wrong, Easy card can be used along the stations till Hsinchu but I am not very sure on the actual stations that allow easy card usage.

Approaching train

Sun setting while we make our way back

With this, we completed travelling all 3 branch line of Taiwan railways albeit not every station, but also not every station along the line is an attraction, there are some which are residential areas.

Just like most reviews, Neiwan is the most quiet among the 3 lines which I strongly agreed. But I am glad for the chance to get to visit her before it becomes more commercialized. I can still recall the small quiet town of Shifen when we 1st visit in 2011 and nearly cannot recognized how much it changed when we went back in 2013.

1 day maybe when Neiwan becomes more commercialized, we will be back for a visit. For now, I will remember it as a sleepy town that we spent an hour here in 1 rainy day in May:)

Directions to Neiwan station:

Via TRA( Taiwan railway)

If taking an express train, you can drop at Hsinchu station (新竹）but there are only 5 timings for train going to Neiwan from here daily.

Hence you can drop here(Hsinchu), take the Liujia (六家）bound train from Hsinchu station which has a frequency of 30min , drop at Zhuzhong station (竹中) station and transferred to Neiwan line.

Travelling time to ZhuZhong from Hsinchu is 18min while travelling time to Neiwan from Zhuzhong is 42min.


Via HSR (Taiwan Highspeed Rail)

Drop at Hsinchu high speed rail station (新竹站, Liujia station(六家） is right beside Hsinchu high speed rail station. Take the train bound for Hsinchu and alight at the next stop Zhuzhong station (竹中站） which is 4min away. Transfer to Neiwan line at Zhuzhong station.