Hundreds of employees stayed up all night to switch tracks! The first train to go underground on the Southern Railway is launched

It took more than 20 years to finally realize the dream of undergrounding Tainan's urban railway and the new Tainan Station. At about 6:30 this morning, the first phase of the opening was completed. Last night, Transportation Minister Chen Shikai, Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe, Legislator Chen Tingfei and a large number of people saw off the last ground train at the old station; this morning they boarded the first southbound Xinziqiang train from the new Tainan Station. Chen Shikai thanked the Railway Administration and Taiwan Railways for the 5,600 people who stayed up all night to complete the track transfer task.

At about 10:46 last night, Chen Shikai, Huang Weizhe, Chen Tingfei, together with the Railway Administration, Taiwan Railways executives, and a large number of people saw off the last southbound Xinziqiang train on the platform of the old Tainan Station. Tainan Station Master Wu Wenjie held a cultural relic of the Taiwan Railway's past "road sign" and handed it over to many officers and handed it to the train driver, symbolizing the handover of railway operations from generation to generation. Then the train blew its whistle three times to say goodbye and pay tribute to Tainan's century-old underground railway and the old station. As the last train slowly left the station, the crowd shouted goodbye, and the scene was touching.

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At about 6 o'clock this morning, Chen Shikai, Huang Weizhe, Chen Tingfei and others also got up early and rushed to the New Tainan Underground Station. At 6:30, they took the first southbound Xin Ziqiang train from Tainan after the railway was undergrounded to Gangshan Station to experience the feeling of the train traveling underground in downtown Tainan.

Chen Shikai said today that many Tainan folks were very enthusiastic and sympathetic last night and saw off the last train on the ground at the crowded old station platform. Then, about 5,600 people from the Railway Bureau and Taiwan Railways stayed up all night to start switching tracks. The process was quite arduous. In addition to the switching of tracks and power systems, When going underground, the ticketing system also had to be connected. During this period, we encountered some unsatisfactory problems. Fortunately, we overcame them one by one, so that the first train after the undergroundization could be dispatched on time. Everyone witnessed this historic moment. We would like to thank the Railway Administration, Taiwan Railways and the Tainan City Government team for their efforts in the past to underground the Southern Railway.

The Railway Bureau pointed out that the undergroundization of the Southern Railway was approved by the Executive Yuan in 2009. Construction started in 2017 and was completed this year. It cost more than 41.2 billion yuan. The total length of the urban undergroundization is 8.23 ​​kilometers. It can eliminate 9 level crossings, 8 vehicle and pedestrian underpasses, 4 vehicle carriages, pedestrian overland bridges, and 2 railway bridge culverts. It will smooth urban traffic. In the future, the old surface railway will be turned into a green parkway for people to rest.