Jiji railway station
Jiji Train Station 集集火車站  | |||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 75, Minsheng Rd. Jiji, Nantou County Taiwan | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 23°49′34″N 120°47′06″E / 23.826179°N 120.785104°E | ||||||||||
| Operated by | |||||||||||
| Line |
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| Distance | 20.1 km from Ershui | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 Island platform | ||||||||||
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| Structure type | Ground level | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Classification | 簡易站 (Taiwan Railways Administration level) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 14 January 1922 | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 238 daily (2024) [1] | |||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Jiji (Chinese: 集集火車站; pinyin: Jíjí Huǒchēzhàn) is a railway station in Jiji Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. It lies along the Taiwan Railway-operated Jiji line, the longest branch line in Taiwan. The station is registered as a historic building, preserving Japanese-style architecture. It is now a tourist destination supported by the Jiji town office.
The Jiji line, including Jiji station, was opened in 1922 to bring construction materials to a power plant at Sun Moon Lake. It soon began carrying wood and agricultural produce, as well as passengers. The initial station was too small for its expanding use, and so a new station building made of cypress was completed in 1933. Proposals to shut down the line in 1986 were opposed by local residents, and the line rebranded in 1994 as a tourist railway. The 1999 Jiji earthquake heavily damaged the station, but it was rebuilt in the same style and re-opened in 2001.
Location
The station is located at No.75, Minsheng Rd., Jiji Township, Nantou County, Taiwan.[2] It is part of the Jiji line, which is the longest branch line in Taiwan.[3]
Structure
The station building is made of cypress wood, and is one of the few remaining Japanese-style station buildings in Taiwan. It has a very simple facade. Tiles were added to the roof following reconstruction after the 1999 Jiji earthquake. The floor is made of cement. The station building is classified as a historic building under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act by the Bureau of Cultural Heritage, considered to have both historical and cultural value. It is registered as a historic site under the Nantou County government. Although it remains owned by the Taiwan Railway Corporation, the station and wider Jiji line are maintained and operated by the Jiji town office.[4] The interior retains a pre-war telephone and safe.[5]: 48
History
Jiji station was constructed by the Taiwan Electric Power Co. during Japanese rule, with construction beginning per local knowledge in 1916, but in official documents in 1919. Jiji sat roughly in the middle of the line, and served as the capital of its county within the Taichū Prefecture.[4] The station, along with the rest of the Jiji line, started operation on 15 January 1922.[6] Its initial purpose was for transporting materials to the nearby power plant at Sun Moon Lake.[2] Later it was also used to transport wood, including from Mount Xiluanda and Mount Danda, as well as agricultural produce grown near the train line, including bananas and other fruit, rice, camphor, and sugar.[7] It also began to transport passengers,[8] with trains consisting of one goods car and one passenger car. In 1927 parts of the railway were sold to the Japanese government. The arrival of the Jiji line increased economic growth within the area, allowing for much greater goods transport. Bananas grown in the region were collected in Jiji for onward export, with this activity reaching its peak in 1930.[4]
Increasing usage outgrew the capacity of the original station.[4] The station relocated to its current location on 2 February 1930, and building began on what was at the time a common Japanese train station design.[5]: 48 The new station was built from cypress, and was finished in 1933.[2]
In 1986, the Taiwan Railways Administration announced it intended to close the loss-making Jiji line. This was opposed by locals.[4] Starting from 1994, the Taiwan Railways Administration and the town cooperated to repaint the line's trains with the aim of attracting tourists.[2] The town funded improvements, including the addition of a parking lot.[4]
The station was severely damaged in the 1999 Jiji earthquake (921 earthquake).[2] It was rebuilt, finishing on 7 February 2001. While only 7% of the building material could be reused, blueprints from its initial construction were available.[5]: 49 The station building was reconstructed faithfully to the original one, and became a tourist attraction.[2] The reconstruction did, however, add 12 steel bars to the wooden construction, to enhance earthquake resistance.[7] It is designed to withstand a magnitude 7 earthquake. The new roof tiles were taken from a building near Ershui railway station that was slated for demolition, allowing for them to authentically reflect the originals.[5]: 49
On 14 January 2022, the 100th anniversary of the station was celebrated, attracting rail enthusiasts from throughout the country. The station adopted the stray cat Longjiaosun as its station master.[8] In attendance was the town mayor, as well as Mikan, the cat station master of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery metro station in Kaohsiung. 1,000 commemorative tickets were produced for the anniversary, and all were sold within an hour.[9] Due to upcoming renovations to the station that would change the purpose of some of its rooms, Longjiaosun was laid off after 11 June 2023.[10][11][12]
In May 2024 much of the Jiji line, including Jiji station, was closed for tunnel expansions. During this period, an inflatable leopard cat was erected outside the station, to welcome guests while highlighting a species found in the local area. The station is expected to reopen in late 2025.[13]
Around the station
The station now serves as an important tourist site for the town, with nearby stores selling dried fruit.[14] An old steam locomotive is kept next to the station,[2] as is an old tank donated by the Ministry of National Defense.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Taiwan Railway Corporation (May 2025). "表6 各站客貨運起訖量 Table 6 Volume of Passenger & Freight Traffic". 中華民國113年臺灣鐵路統計年報 Statistical report of Taiwan Railways -2024- (Report) (in Chinese (Taiwan) and English). Taiwan Railway Corporation. pp. 20–31. Archived from the original on 2025-05-08. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area > Tourist Guide > Scenic Spots Introduction". Sunmoonlake.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
- ^ Shan, Shelley (28 April 2017). "Faster access to the Jiji line launched". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "集集火車站" (in Chinese). Bureau of Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d Katakura Yohsifumi (September 2020). "集集線の歴史～台湾中部を走る地方路線" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
- ^ 鉄道省 (1937). 鐵道停車場一覽. 昭和12年10月1日現在 (in Japanese). Ministry of Railways. p. 523. doi:10.11501/1207554. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30.
- ^ a b "集集火車站" (in Chinese). National Museum of Taiwan History. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b Wu Jianhui (14 January 2022). "南投集集車站歡慶百歲生日 「龍蕉Sun」貓站長正式就任". China Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ Liu Binquan (劉濱銓) (15 January 2022). "《南投》集集站慶百年 萌貓龍蕉Sun、蜜柑相見歡". The Liberty Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ Lü Xinlu (呂欣潞) (29 May 2023). "集集貓站長遭資遣「粉絲氣炸急連署」 灌爆鎮公所信箱：別遺棄牠". ETtoday.net (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ Xiao Yulin (蕭郁霖) (29 May 2023). "集集貓站長被資遣「兩週後失業」 民眾不捨灌爆公所信箱求情". mnews (in Chinese). Retrieved 19 September 2025.
- ^ Lü Xinlu (呂欣潞) (29 May 2023). "集集貓站長周休2日「心情不好免上班」 突遭資遣...飼主媽回應了". ETtoday.net (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ "集集火車站改造 充氣大石虎坐鎮" (in Chinese). Nantou Conutry government. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ Reyes, Lai S. (27 January 2019). "Rubber-stamp your way through Taiwan". Philstar Global. Retrieved 11 March 2021.