Circular light rail

Light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Circular light rail

CAF Urbos 3 trams parked at Cianjhen Star

Overview
Owner| Kaohsiung City Government
Locale| Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Stations| 38[1]
Website| krtco.com.tw
Service
Type| Light rail
System| Kaohsiung Metro
Operator(s)| Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation
Depot(s)| Cianjhen Depot
Rolling stock| CAF Urbos 3[2]
Alstom Citadis 305[3]
Daily ridership| 10 000[4]
Ridership| 3,360,000 (2018)
History
Commenced| 16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) (phase 1)
Opened| 16 October 2015[5]
Technical
Line length| 22.1 km (13.7 mi)
Number of tracks| 2
Character| At-grade, elevated
Track gauge| 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification| Electric capacitor
Operating speed| 70 km/h (43 mph) maximum[6]

Map

Legend

|  | Kaohsiung Municipal

United Hospital

|  | Longhua Elementary School
|  |

|  | Heart of Love River
| Kaohsiung Museum

of Fine Arts

|  | Aozihdi

Red line

Neiwei Arts Center |  |

|  | Sinshan Elementary School

West Coast line

|  |

|  | Wanzihnei
Museum of Fine Arts |  |

|  |

Love River

Makadao |  |

|  | Dingshan Street
Gushan |  |

|  | Kaohsiung Industrial High School
|  |

|  |  | Shu-Te Home Economics

& Commercial High School
Gushan District Office |  |

|  | Science and Technology Museum
Wenwu Temple |  |

|  |

| Science and Technology Museum

West Coast line

Shoushan Park |  |

|  | St. Joseph Hospital
Sizihwan |  |

|  | Wukuaicuo

Orange line

Hamasen |  |

|  | Kaisyuan Park
Penglai Pier-2 |  |

|  | Department of Health
Dayi Pier-2 |  |

|  | Wucyuan Elementary School
Love Pier |  |

|  | Kaisyuan Wuchang

Love River

|  |

|  | Kaisyuan Ersheng
Glory Pier |  |

|  | LRT Depot
Cruise Terminal |  |

|  |

depot

Kaohsiung Exhibition Center |  |

|  | Lizihnei
Software Technology Park |  |

|  | Kaisyuan Rueitian
Commerce and Trade Park |  |

|  | Cianjhen Star
|  |

|  | Kaisyuan

Red line

Dream Mall |  |

|  | Kaisyuan Jhonghua
|  |  |  |  |  |

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Circular light rail

Traditional Chinese| 環狀輕軌
Simplified Chinese| 环状轻轨
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Huánzhuàng Qīngguǐ
Wade–Giles| Huan²-chuang⁴ Chʻing¹-kuei³
Tongyong Pinyin| Huánjhuàng Cingguěi
Hakka
Pha̍k-fa-sṳ| Fàn-chhong Khiâng-kuí
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ| Khoân-chōng Kheng-kúi/Khin-thih

Lizihnei Station (9 March 2015) Cianjhen Star Station (27 August 2016) Love Pier Station (22 July 2017) Kaohsiung Exhibition Center Station and the 85 Sky Tower

The Kaohsiung Circular Light Rail (Chinese: 高雄環狀輕軌) is a light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, operated by the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation.[7] The line stretches over a length of 22.1 kilometers and has 38 stations. The southern part of this line makes use of the defunct tracks of the Kaohsiung Harbor Railway Line. Construction cost was forecasted to be 16.5 billion New Taiwan dollars.[8]

Phase I consists of the section of the line from Station C1 to Station C14, of which Stations C3 and C14 are transfer stations to the KMRT Red line and Orange line, respectively. Construction of Phase I began on 4 June 2013.[9] Stations C1 to C14 were open on a test-basis (free for the public[10]) from August 2015, and commenced formal operations in September 2017.[11][12]

Phase II construction of the northern section partially began on 12 January 2021[13] after the underground relocation of the Kaohsiung urban railway. The northern part of Phase II was scheduled to be opened in June 2021 along with the rest, but was delayed until 1 January 2024 due to local opposition.[14][15]

## History

[edit]

Phase  | Segment  | Commencement  | Length (km)  | Stations

|
|
|
|

I  | Lizihnei - Hamasen  | 4 July 2016[9] | 8.7[15] | 14
II Phase 1  | Hamasen - Gushan District Office
Lizihnei - Kaisyuan Park  | 12 January 2021[15] | 4.1[15] | 9
II Phase 2  | Gushan District Office - TRA Museum of Fine Arts  | 16 December 2021  | 1.8  | 3
II Phase 3  | TRA Museum of Fine Arts - Heart of Love River  | 5 October 2022  | 2.4  | 4
II Full  | Heart of Love River - Kaisyuan Park  | 1 January 2024  | 5  | 7

## Stations

[edit]

Code | Station Name | Connection | District

|
|
|

English | Chinese
— ↑ Loop line towards Depot ↑ —
C1 | Lizihnei | 籬仔內 |  | Cianjhen
C2 | Kaisyuan Rueitian | 凱旋瑞田
C3 | Cianjhen Star | 前鎮之星 |  via Kaisyuan (R6)
C4 | Kaisyuan Jhonghua | 凱旋中華 |
C5 | Dream Mall | 夢時代 |
C6 | Commerce and Trade Park | 經貿園區 |
C7 | Software Technology Park | 軟體園區 |
C8 | Kaohsiung Exhibition Center | 高雄展覽館 |
C9 | Cruise Terminal | 旅運中心 |  (planned)  | Lingya
C10 | Glory Pier | 光榮碼頭 |
C11 | Love Pier | 真愛碼頭 |  | Yancheng
C12 | Dayi Pier-2 | 駁二大義 |
C13 | Penglai Pier-2 | 駁二蓬萊 |  | Gushan
C14 | Hamasen | 哈瑪星 |  via Hamasen (O1)
C15 | Shoushan Park
(ALIEN Art Centre) | 壽山公園(金馬賓館當代美術館) |
C16 | Wenwu Temple | 文武聖殿 |
C17 | Gushan District Office | 鼓山區公所 |
C18 | Gushan | 鼓山 |  Gushan
C19 | Makadao | 馬卡道 |
C20 | TRA Museum of Fine Arts Station | 臺鐵美術館 |  Museum of Fine Arts
C21A | Neiwei Arts Center | 內惟藝術中心 |
C21 | Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts | 美術館 |
C22 | Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital | 聯合醫院 |
C23 | Longhua Elementary School | 龍華國小 |
C24 | Heart of Love River | 愛河之心 |  via Aozihdi (R13)
C25 | Sinshang Elementary School | 新上國小 |  | Zuoying
C26 | Dashun Minzu | 大順民族 |  | Sanmin
C27 | Wanzihnei | 灣仔內 |
C28 | Kaohsiung Industrial High School | 高雄高工 |  (planned)
C29 | Shu-Te Home Economics & Commercial High School | 樹德家商 |
C30 | Science and Technology Museum | 科工館 |  Science and Technology Museum
C31 | St. Joseph Hospital | 聖功醫院 |  | Lingya
C32 | Kaisyuan Park | 凱旋公園 |  via Wukuaicuo (O8), via Cultural Center (O7)
C33 | Department of Health | 衛生局 |
C34 | Wucyuan Elementary School | 五權國小 |
C35 | Kaisyuan Wuchang | 凱旋武昌 |
C36 | Kaisyuan Ersheng | 凱旋二聖 |  | Cianjhen
C37 | LRT Depot | 輕軌機廠 |
— ↓ Loop line towards Lizihnei ↓ —

## Rolling stock

[edit]

CAF Urbos Citadis 305

The line's fleet consists of nine CAF Urbos trams that are powered by supercapacitor banks.[16] The tramway cars are 34 meters (112 ft) in length, and are able to transport a total of 250 passengers (seated, and standing).[8]

15 Alstom Citadis 305 tramway cars entered service in November 2020.[17]

## Ticket

[edit]

Unlike the Kaohsiung Metro Red and Orange Lines, the Kaohsiung Light Rail is charged at a lower rate. As of January 2019, the fare for each light rail is NT$30. There is special rate of NT$10 by using a digital wallet (such as iPass, EasyCard, icash, etc). Card readers are available at each station and inside of tramway. When paying the fare by the e-ticket (digital wallet), passengers are only charged one of them at each time. When paying by cash, passengers can purchase tickets at the ticket vending machines at each station for the ticket inspector to check.

## Previous light rail demonstration project

[edit]

The Siemens Combino vehicle was used for light rail demonstration at Central Park, Kaohsiung in 2004.

In 2004, the Kaohsiung City Government and Siemens built a temporary two-station circular light rail line in Central Park, operated by a single trainset, to demonstrate the feasibility of building a light rail system in Kaohsiung City.[citation needed] It was meant to alleviate some residents' concerns that light rail would negatively impact their surroundings by producing excessive noise and hindering normal traffic flow.[citation needed] This Siemens Combino vehicle would later become the D2 Class operated in Melbourne, Australia.

## See also

[edit]

* Danhai light rail
* Transportation in Taiwan
* Kaohsiung Metro

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Kaohsiung Light Rail". urbanrail.net. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
2. ^ "Kaohsiung picks CAF to build catenary-free trams". Railway Gazette International. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
3. ^ "The 1st tram for Kaohsiung arrives in Taiwan". 4 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
4. ^ "Transport statistics". stat.motc.gov.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-11-10.
5. ^ "領先全台 高雄輕軌4日正式通車 | 社會". 新頭殼 Newtalk (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 4 July 2016. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
6. ^ "KAOHSIUNG LRV". CAF. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
7. ^ "Light Rail System - Project Content". Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
8. ^ a b "Trams: Kaohsiung Launches Taiwan's First Light Rail Service". Kaohsiung City Government. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
9. ^ a b "Kaohsiung begins circular light rail construction". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
10. ^ Tim Berge (16 October 2015). "Kaohsiung LRT Opens to Public". ICRT FM.100. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
11. ^ "About Taiwan". Info Taiwan. 17 March 2014. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
12. ^ James Chuang (8 June 2015). "Kaohsiung light rail line set to go full circle". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
13. ^ "New light rail stop - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
14. ^ "Kaohsiung light rail system to be completed by 2023: mayor - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). 10 November 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
15. ^ a b c d "New Kaohsiung circular light rail section to go into service Jan. 12 - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). 6 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
16. ^ "Trams: KAOHSIUNG TRAMWAY". CAF. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
17. ^ "Alstom Citadis X05 trams enter service on South Circular LRT in Taiwan". Railway Technology. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-03.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaohsiung LRT Circular Line.

* Official website

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Kaohsiung Metro - Circular light rail

* （Loop line towards Depot）Lizihnei
* Kaisyuan Rueitian
* Cianjhen Star ( via Kaisyuan)
* Kaisyuan Jhonghua
* Dream Mall
* Commerce and Trade Park
* Software Technology Park
* Kaohsiung Exhibition Center
* Cruise Terminal
* Glory Pier
* Love Pier
* Dayi Pier-2
* Penglai Pier-2
* Hamasen
* Shoushan Park
* Wenwu Temple
* Gushan District Office
* Gushan
* Makadao
* TRA Museum of Fine Arts
* Neiwei Arts Center
* Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
* Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital
* Longhua Elementary School
* Heart of Love River ( via Aozihdi)
* Sin-shan Elementary School
* Wanzihnei
* Dingshan Street
* Kaohsiung Industrial High School
* Shu-Te Home Economics & Commercial High School
* Science and Technology Museum
* St. Joseph Hospital
* Kaisyuan Park ( via Wukuaicuo)
* Department of Health
* Wucyuan Elementary School
* Kaisyuan Wuchang
* Kaisyuan Ersheng
* LRT Depot（Loop line towards Lizihnei）

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Urban rail transit in Taiwan

|  Taipei Metro|  New Taipei Metro|  Taoyuan Metro|  Taichung MRT|  Kaohsiung Metro

|
|
|
|

* Wenhu line
* Tamsui–Xinyi line
* Songshan–Xindian line
* Zhonghe–Xinlu line
* Bannan line

* Danhai light rail
* Ankeng light rail
* Circular line

* Taoyuan Airport MRT

* Green line

* Red line
* Orange line
* Circular light rail

* Chiayi BRT
* Smart cards
* EasyCard
* iPASS
* TaiwanMoney Card
* Rail transport in Taiwan

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