Jiji Line

History

The line was originally built by Taipower to facilitate the construction of Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant in Sun Moon Lake. Afterwards, the colony government purchased the route in 1927.

The line was severely damaged in the 1999 Jiji earthquake on 21 September 1999, but was repaired and resumed operations in February 2002.

In March 2010 service on the line was suspended in order for work to be performed on seven railway tunnels between Zhuoshui Station and Checheng Station. The maintenance repaired damage that the tunnels had sustained during the 1999 earthquake and expanded the tunnels' width. The line reopened on July 9, 2011.

Operation

On Jiji Line, there are twelve runs everyday, however, only one runs between Ershui Station and Checheng Station, and the others travel between Taichung Station and Checheng Station. The headway between each number of runs is about two hours. Due to the line being single tracked, only one train can travel the full length at a time. Historically, only the TRA's diesel-powered trains could operate on the line due to the width of the line's tunnels. Following the renovations from 2010 to 2011, the Jiji Line became navigable to other types of trains.

Fares

A one-way ticket fare, from Ershui to Checheng, is NT$44 by mileage for adults. And, an unlimited-rides pass fare is NT$80, for used in one day. The Jiji Line ticket and one-day round-trip pass is available for purchase at all the following stations: Zhunan, Miaoli, Fongyuan, Taichung, Changhua, Yuanlin, Tianzhong, Ershuei, Dajia, Shalu, Douliu, Dounan, and Chiayi.

Using the MRT calculation, the fare will be NT$55 in the future, and will support Easycard.