Western Trunk line (Chinese: 縱貫線; pinyin: Zòngguàn xiàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhiòng-koàn sòaⁿ) is a railway line of Taiwan Railway in western Taiwan.^[1][2] It is by far the busiest line, having served over 171 million passengers in 2016. The total length of the line is 404.5 km (251.3 mi).

Quick Facts Overview, Native name ...

Western Trunk line
Western Trunk line in blue
Overview
Native name	西部幹線
Termini	Keelung Pingtung
Stations	134
Service
Type	Conventional railway
Operator(s)	Taiwan Railway Corporation
History
Opened	10 August 1902
Technical
Line length	420.8 km (261.5 mi)[lower-alpha 1]
Number of tracks	2 (predominantly)
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	25 kV/60 Hz catenary
Operating speed	Varies
Route map Legend Station km km Station 0.0 Keelung 1.3 Sankeng (Eastern Trunk line ) 3.7 Badu 6.0 Qidu 8.7 Baifu 11.7 Wudu 13.1 Xizhi 14.6 Xike 19.1 Nangang 21.9 Songshan 28.3 Taipei 31.1 Wanhua 35.5 Banqiao 38.0 Fuzhou 40.9 Shulin 42.9 South Shulin 44.8 Shanjia 49.2 Yingge 57.4 Taoyuan 63.3 Neili 67.3 Zhongli 73.1 Puxin 77.1 Yangmei 83.9 Fugang 85.6 Xinfu 87.1 Beihu 89.6 Hukou 95.8 Xinfeng 100.6 Zhubei (Neiwan line ) 105.0 North Hsinchu 106.4 Hsinchu 111.2 Sanxingqiao 114.4 Xiangshan 120.8 Qiding Zhunan 0.0 125.4 Zhunan Tanwen 4.5 130.7 Zaoqiao Dashan 11.2 136.6 Fengfu Houlong 15.0 140.6 Miaoli Longgang 18.6 147.2 Nanshi Baishatun 26.7 151.4 Tongluo Xinpu 29.8 158.8 Sanyi Tongxiao 35.6 169.7 Tai'an Yuanli 41.7 172.3 Houli Rinan 49.4 179.1 Fengyuan Dajia 54.0 181.6 Lilin Taichung Port 59.3 184.1 Tanzi 186.0 Toujiacuo 187.7 Songzhu 189.2 Taiyuan Qingshui 65.3 191.2 Jingwu Shalu 68.5 193.3 Taichung 195.3 Wuquan Longjing 73.1 197.5 Daqing 200.5 Wuri Dadu 78.1 201.3 Xinwuri Zhuifen 83.1 203.8 Chenggong ( Chengzhui line ) Changhua 90.2 210.9 Changhua 217.5 Huatan 222.1 Dacun 225.6 Yuanlin 229.1 Yongjing 232.8 Shetou 237.1 Tianzhong 242.9 Ershui (Jiji line ) 251.0 Linnei 255.8 Shiliu 260.6 Douliu 268.2 Dounan 272.1 Shigui 276.7 Dalin 282.5 Minxiong 289.2 Jiabei 291.8 Chiayi 298.4 Shuishang 301.0 Nanjing 307.0 Houbi 314.7 Xinying 318.0 Liuying 321.9 Linfengying 327.4 Longtian 329.6 Balin 334.2 Shanhua 337.1 Nanke 341.8 Xinshi 346.8 Yongkang 350.5 Daqiao 353.2 Tainan 360.8 Bao'an 362.2 Rende 364.8 Zhongzhou (Shalun line ) 367.7 Dahu 370.6 Luzhu 378.4 Gangshan 382.0 Qiaotou 386.2 Nanzi 391.3 Xinzuoying 393.2 Zuoying 394.4 Neiwei 396.1 Museum of Fine Arts 397.3 Gushan 399.0 Sankuaicuo 399.8 Kaohsiung 401.2 Minzu 402.2 Sci-tech Museum 404.0 Zhengyi 405.6 Fengshan 409.3 Houzhuang 413.6 Jiuqutang 418.6 Liukuaicuo 420.8 Pingtung ( South-link line) This diagram: view talk edit

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The line is an official classification of physical tracks and does not correspond to particular services. It is connected to Taichung line (mountain line; 山線) at Zhunan and Changhua. Many services turn inland to take the Taichung route, then reconnect back to the main line (West Coast line). Train schedules and departure boards mark either mountain or coastal (海線) line to indicate the route taken.

The original railroad between Keelung and Twatutia was completed in 1891. The section between Twatutia and Hsinchu was finished in 1893. However, in the Japanese era, these sections were all rebuilt by the Government-General of Taiwan as part of its Taiwan Trunk Railway (縱貫鐵道, Jūkan Tetsudō) project. The Taiwan Trunk Railway was completed in 1908 with route from Kīrun (基隆, Keelung) through Taihoku (臺北, Taipei), Shinchiku (新竹, Hsinchu), Taichū (臺中, Taichung), Tainan (臺南, Tainan), to Takao (高雄, Kaohsiung).

The Taiwan Trunk Railway at that time went through all major cities in western Taiwan. However, the terrain around Taichū (Taichung) created a significant bottleneck for rail freight transport. To resolve this issue, the Government-General of Taiwan decided to build a Coastal Line (海岸線, Kaigan-sen) between Chikunan (竹南, Zhunan) and Shōka (彰化, Changhua) to relieve the congestion. The construction of the Coastal Line was started in 1919 and completed in 1922. The Coastal Line then became a part of the main West Coast Line, and the original railway through Taichū (Taichung) was named as a separate line (Taichung line).

Due to service patterns, the following lines are often collectively referred to as the Western main line (Chinese: 西部幹線; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Se-pō͘ Kàn-sòaⁿ)