:Alishan Forest Railway

File:AFR Shay 31 01.jpg No.31]]

The narrow gauge lines were originally constructed by the Japanese Colonial Government to facilitate the logging of cypress and Taiwania wood.Railway island paradise Trains June 2018 page 34 Preliminary surveying was conducted in 1900 and route planning began in 1903, but the project was shelved in 1904 due to the Russo-Japanese War. In 1906, the Japanese Government contracted the Osaka-based Fujita-gumi to build the railroad. The company laid tracks from Kagi (Chiayi) to Rienryō (Liyuanliao) and imported 13-ton Shay locomotives to run on the tracks, but financial troubles and technical difficulties in construction in the mountainous terrain forced them to abandon the project in 1908. In 1910, the Japanese Government took interest in the abandoned railroad and decided to finish it themselves, also importing 18-ton Shays for the job. The tracks were extended to Alisan (Zhaoping) in 1913, marking the completion of the main line.{{cite web |title=用途的轉變 |url=https://afrch.forest.gov.tw/0000103 |website=阿里山林業鐵路及文化資產管理處 |publisher=Forestry Bureau |access-date=June 16, 2021 |language=zh-tw}}

The Alishan Forest Railway became a major tourist railway when the tracks were extended to Niitakaguchi (新高口) in 1933. The station was located very close to Mount Niitaka (now Yu Shan), the highest mountain in Taiwan and the Japanese Empire, and the hike to the summit could be completed in seven to eleven hours, depending on the health of the individual. To cater to hikers, the railway operated an express service from Kagi to Niitakaguchi that only stopped at Shōhei; hikers would stay overnight at a lodge at Niitakaguchi and summit the next day.{{cite web |author1=蘇昭旭 |title=阿里山歷史文件回顧三: 阿里山森林鐵路的百年興衰 |url=https://blog.xuite.net/sujaushi/twblog1/119019000 |website=蘇昭旭老師的全球鐵道視野部落格 |access-date=February 24, 2021 |language=zh-tw |date=May 20, 2012}}{{cite news |title=登玉山之巔 溯歷史之源 |url=http://old.ltn.com.tw/2001/new/aug/11/life/travel-3.htm |access-date=February 24, 2021 |agency=Liberty Times |language=zh-tw}}

Diesel railcars supplemented the steam engines on the passenger services. In the 1980s, 10 Hitachi-built diesel-hydraulic locomotives were delivered and replaced the railcars and remaining steam engines.

The completion of the Alishan Highway in 1982 led to the loss of many rail passengers to faster and cheaper buses and the rail became primarily a tourist attraction.

Accidents on the line have resulted in a number of fatalities over the years. On 24 April 1981, a collapsed tunnel resulted in nine deaths and 13 injuries. On 1 March 2003, 17 people were killed and 156 injured when a train derailed near Alishan Railway Station.{{cite web |url=http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1089&CtNode=128 |title=Taiwan's Alpine Rail |access-date=21 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209065825/http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1089&CtNode=128 |archive-date=9 February 2012 |url-status=dead}} On 27 April 2011, five tourists, including three from mainland China, were killed and 113 people injured in a derailment.Shelly Shan. [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/04/28/2003501867 "Tourists Killed in Train Derailment".] Taipei Times. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

In addition, services have been repeatedly disrupted due to damage from landslides. The main line from Chiayi to Alishan was partially closed in 2009 due to damage caused by landslides during Typhoon Morakot in 2009 and Typhoon Dujuan in 2015. It reopened between Chiayi and {{rws|Fenqihu}} (approximately the halfway point) following typhoon damage repairs in January 2014,{{cite news |url=http://www.ali-nsa.net/user/Article.aspx?Lang=2&SNo=04005405 |title=Alishan train goes to Fenqi Lake again}} and to Shizilu in 2017. The full remaining main line between Chiayi and Zhushan reopened in July 2024, after the completion of Tunnel 42 in April 2024.{{cite news | url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5182340 | title=Taiwan's Alishan Forestry Railway to fully open on July 1 | work=Taiwan News | date=10 April 2024 }}{{cite web | url=https://focustaiwan.tw/photos/20240421ENP0001m | title=Tunnel art - Focus Taiwan | date=21 April 2024 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLTE01daRw8 | title=The Alishan Forest Railway tunnel no.42 reconstruction documentary - full episode | website=YouTube | date=16 May 2024 }}{{cite web |title=阿里山森鐵剩42號隧道卡關 原地復建難 |url=https://news.pts.org.tw/article/443966 |website=公視新聞網 |date=28 August 2019 |access-date=1 October 2019 |language=zh-Hant}}{{Cite news |date=2024-07-07 |title=Alishan Forest Railway resumes full operations |work=Taipei Times |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2024/07/07/2003820458 |access-date=2024-07-07 }}

In August 2015, the Chiayi–Fenqihu section was briefly closed due to damage during Typhoon Soudelor.{{cite web |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/chiayi/2015/08/11/442964/Alishan-Railway.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003185950/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/chiayi/2015/08/11/442964/Alishan-Railway.htm |archive-date=3 October 2015 |title=Alishan Railway to resume its normal operations Wednesday - The China Post}}

In order to further boost tourism in the region, on 5 December 2018 the Alishan Forest Railway commenced a "sister railway" partnership with Čierny Hron Railway in Slovakia;{{Cite web|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2018/12/08/2003705721|title=Alishan signs sister deal with fellow Slovakian railway|date=2018-12-08|website=Taipei Times|access-date=2018-12-20}} the Alishan Forest Railway has since partnered with nine other companies across five different countries.{{Cite web|url=https://udn.com/news/story/7153/3519568|title=阿里山蒸汽火車 108年起每兩周行駛一天|date=2018-12-06|website=UDN.com|access-date=2018-12-20}}

The railway was privatized through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) in June 2008{{cite web |url=http://www.forest.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=28391&ctNode=1787&mp=1 |title=阿里山森林鐵路移交民營 航向新紀元 |access-date=11 September 2008 |archive-date=5 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005030902/http://www.forest.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=28391&ctNode=1787&mp=1 |url-status=dead }} and maintained by the Hungtu Alishan International Development Corporation.Shelly Shan. [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/05/01/2003502140 "TRA to Take Control of Alishan Forest Railway".] Taipei Times. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011. On 1 May 2013, the management of the railway was taken over by Taiwan Railways Administration. On 1 July 2018, the railway was taken over by the newly established Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office of the Forestry Bureau.{{cite news|url=http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201806230014.aspx|date=23 June 2018|first1=Kuo-fang|last1=Huang|first2=Hsin-yin|last2=Lee|title=Forestry Bureau to take over operation of Alishan railway|publisher=Focus Taiwan|access-date=10 August 2018}}

The system is currently operated using diesel locomotives, although there are occasional special public runs using the old steam powered Shay locomotives.{{Cite web |url=http://chuwuhou.myweb.hinet.net/r6.html |title=阿里山SL-31號蒸汽機車運行記錄 |access-date=9 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723143534/http://chuwuhou.myweb.hinet.net/r6.html |archive-date=23 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}

Image:Tunnel114.jpg

File:Alishan station 01.jpg

The main line runs from the city of Chiayi (elevation 30 m) to Alishan (elevation 2,216 m). The vegetation along the way changes from tropical to temperate and finally alpine. The line features many switchbacks on the way up the mountain.{{Cite web |url=http://www.railway.gov.tw/tw/Alishan/page.html |title=歡迎光臨阿里山森林鐵道 |access-date=21 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206005048/http://www.railway.gov.tw/tw/Alishan/page.html |archive-date=6 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}

• Main line

:{{stl|Taiwan Railways|Chiayi}}–{{rws|Alishan}}

:Includes several steep gradients (max. 6.26%), a spiral and four switchbacks, known as the Dulishan Spiral. The longest line with most dramatic climate change.

• Shenmu line

:{{rws|Alishan}}–{{rws|Shenmu}}

:Runs frequently all day, a short (5-minute) ride downhill to Shenmu station.

• Chushan line

:Alishan–Chushan

:Early morning trains, popular for viewing the sunrise over Jade Mountain

• Zhaoping line

:Alishan–{{rws|Zhaoping}}

:Runs frequently all day, a short (5-minute) ride uphill to Zhaoping station

• Mianyue line

:Alishan–Shihou

:Closed due to earthquake damage and typhoon, currently turned to mountain trail, reconstruction plans under discussion.

• Shuishan line

:Alishan–Shuishan

:No passenger service, mountain trail and thinning only

File:Old Japanese Train in Alishan.JPG|The front of the train on the Zhushan Line

File:Alishan Station 01.jpg|{{rws|Alishan}} station

File:Jhushan Station, Taiwan 01.jpg|Zhushan Station

On 10 March 2018, Google celebrated the Alishan Forest Railway with a Google Doodle.{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/celebrating-the-alishan-forest-railway/|title=Celebrating the Alishan Forest Railway|website=Google|date=10 March 2018}}

• Rail transport in Taiwan
• Alishan National Scenic Area

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Alishan Forest Railway}}

• {{official site}}

{{Taiwan Rail Transport}}

{{Alishan Forest Railway navbox}}

Category:Railway lines opened in 1912

Category:1912 establishments in Taiwan

Category:Forest railways in Taiwan

Category:Potential World Heritage Sites in Taiwan