Taiwan Railway's 5,600 employees worked all night to switch tracks and open the Southern Railway underground to bid farewell to the century-old station.

The platform was packed with people to bid farewell to the last underground train at Tainan Old Station. (Photo by reporter Hong Ruiqin)

From planning, demolition to construction, it took more than thirty years to underground the Tainan urban railway and open the new station. Yesterday at 6:30 in the morning, Transportation Minister Chen Shikai, Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe and others went to the new station to take the first train south to experience it, opening a new era of Tainan Metro.

Back then, the undergrounding of the Southern Railway triggered protests by the demolished households. The night before, President Lai Qingde presided over the opening ceremony and once again apologized to the residents who were demolished along the railway line and thanked the residents for their understanding and understanding. He said that the city government had done its best to help reduce the impact of demolition on residents' lives. As Tainan's railway history turns a new page, it will continue to build underground railway parks and greenways in the future, and continue to improve the urban environment to fulfill its original promise to residents.

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The platform is packed with people and the last train on the ground is waiting for them

Then, at about 10:40 that night, Chen Shikai, Huang Weizhe, legislator Chen Tingfei, and senior officials from the Railway Administration and Taiwan Railway saw off the last southbound Xinziqiang train on the platform of the old Tainan Station, which was crowded with people.

Tainan Station Director Wu Wenjie handed over the "street signs" cultural relics used by Taiwan Railways to ensure traffic safety in the hands of many officials and handed them to the train drivers, symbolizing the handover of railway operations from generation to generation. The train also blew its whistle three times to say goodbye and pay tribute to the 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.

The construction team took advantage of the few hours when trains were stopped late at night to switch the tracks at the south and north ends. From power outages and blockades, track sawing and connecting, track shifting, backfilling with gravel, and signal testing, every process was in a race against time to complete the task of opening the track seamlessly.

The first train from the new station leaves at 6:30 in the morning

At 6:30 yesterday morning, Chen Shikai, Huang Weizhe, legislator Chen Tingfei and others also went to the new station to take the first train of the New Ziqiang to experience the journey south. Chen Shikai said that about 500 to 600 people from the Railway Bureau and Taiwan Railway stayed up all night to switch tracks, which was quite hard work. He thanked the teams from the Railway Bureau, Taiwan Railway and Tainan City Government for their efforts in allowing everyone to witness this historic moment.

At nearly 6:30 in the morning on the 17th, the first southbound Xin Ziqiang train arrived at Tainan New Station. (Photo by reporter Wang Junzhong)

The Taiwan Railway construction team was racing against time and stayed up all night to switch tracks. (Photo by reporter Hong Ruiqin)