|
The Alishan Forest Railway () is an 86 km network of narrow gauge railways running up to and throughout the popular mountain resort of Alishan in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The railway, originally constructed for logging, is itself a tourist attraction with unique Z-shaped switchbacks, 50 tunnels, and over 77 wooden bridges.〔Deborah Kuo. ("Uncertain Future for Alishan Railway". ) ''Taipei Times''. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2011.〕 ==History== The narrow gauge lines were originally constructed by the Japanese Colonial Government in 1912 to facilitate the logging of cypress and Taiwania wood, however today the line caters mostly to tourists. Passenger carriages were first added to the trains in 1918. The first motive power was a Shay locomotive purchased second hand from the Kiso Forest Railway in Japan. Eventually the railway acquired 20 Shay locomotives. Eventually, diesel railcars supplemented the steam engines on the passenger services. In the 1980s, 10 Hitachi-built diesel-hydraulic locomotives were delivered and replaced the railcars and remaining steam engines. The completion of the Alishan Highway in 1982 led to the loss of many rail passengers to faster and cheaper buses and the rail became primarily a tourist attraction.〔 Accidents on the line have resulted in a number of fatalities over the years. On 24 April 1981, a collapsed tunnel resulted in nine deaths and 13 injuries. On 1 March 2003, 17 people were killed and 156 injured when a train derailed near Alishan Railway Station. On 27 April 2011, five tourists, including three from mainland China, were killed and 113 people injured in a derailment.〔Shelly Shan. ("Tourists Killed in Train Derailment". ) ''Taipei Times''. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.〕 The railway line was severely damaged by rains associated with 2009's Typhoon Morakot and services are only running between Chiayi and Fenchihu (approximately the halfway point) since the typhoon occurred. On 15 September 2015, the whole rail line underwent its first test run since the damaged made by the typhoon in 2009 and it is expected to be fully reopened to the public on 25 December 2015.〔http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2015/09/18/446175/Alishan-Forest.htm〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alishan Forest Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|