The Taitung Line is the southern section of the Eastern Line of the Taiwan Railway Administration.[1] This line starts in Hualien and ends in Taitung, thus its name the Hualien-Taitung Line (or the Hua-Tung Line for short) (花東線).[2]
It is 161.5 km long, including the main segment of 155.7 km between Hualien and Taitung. [3]
The coastal branch lines of Hualien and Taitung have been discarded after the bordening plan in 1982.
The north segment from Hualien to Tamasato (now Yuli) was built in 1909 and completed in 1917. The south segment form Beinan (now Taitung) to Lilung(now Guanshan) was opened in 1919 by the Taitung Development Company.(台東開拓會社)
In 1922, the Taitung Development Company bought the railroad from Hualien to Yuli and called "Taitung North Line", and the south segment of Beinan to Lilung called "Taitung South Line."
The connection railroad between Yuli to Lilung was built in 1921, and completed in 1926 which the total length was 171.8 km from Hualien to Taitung.
In 1966, the Guanghua Train (光華號, Diesel Multiple Unit,DMU) started to service in this line and shorten the traveling time greatly from 6-7 hours to 3-4 hours from Hualien to Taitung.
Its gauge was changed from 762 mm to 1067 mm in 1982 and connected with North-Link Line and discarded the old Hualien Station to the new place which the Hualien Station is located now.
In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave the line a conditional pass for an electrification project, which will boost the operating speed of the line from 110 km/hr to 130 km/hr.[4] In 2009, construction began on electrification work, with NT$15.5 billion set aside for the project.[5] Electrification work is expected to be completed by 2013.[5] An additional NT$6 billion has also been allocated to renovate stations along the route.[5]
| Station Name | Transfers and Notes | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanyu | Tongyong | Chinese | |||
| Hualien | 花蓮 | → Connecting to the North-Link Line → Connecting to the Hualien Port Line |
Hualien City | Hualien County | |
| Ji'an | Ji-an | 吉安 | Ji'an | ||
| Zhixue | Jhihsyue | 志學 | Shoufeng | ||
| Pinghe | 平和 | ||||
| Shoufeng | Shoufong | 壽豐 | |||
| Fengtian | Fongtian | 豐田 | |||
| Xikou | Sikou | 溪口 | |||
| Nanping | 南平 | Fenglin | |||
| Fenglin | Fonglin | 鳳林 | |||
| Wanrong | 萬榮 | ||||
| Guangfu | 光復 | Guangfu | |||
| Dafu | 大富 | ||||
| Fuyuan | 富源 | Ruisui | |||
| Ruisui | Rueisui | 瑞穗 | |||
| Wuhe Sign | 舞鶴號誌 | ||||
| Sanmin | 三民 | Yuli | |||
| Yuli | 玉里 | ||||
| Dongli | 東里 | Fuli | |||
| Dongzhu | Dongjhu | 東竹 | |||
| Fuli | 富里 | ||||
| Chishang | Chihshang | 池上 | Chishang | Taitung County | |
| Haiduan | 海端 | Guanshan | |||
| Guanshan | 關山 | ||||
| Yuemei | 月美 | ||||
| Ruihe | Rueihe | 瑞和 | Luye | ||
| Ruiyuan | Rueiyuan | 瑞源 | |||
| Luye | 鹿野 | ||||
| Shanli | 山里 | Beinan | |||
| Taitung | 臺東 | → Connecting to the South-Link Line | Taitung City | ||
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