The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) plans to invest NT$2.2 billion (US$72.4 million) to restore the Old Mountain Line to improve connections between tourist destinations in central Taiwan.

The TRA runs the New Mountain Line and the Sea Line as part of its west coast system. The former runs from Junan to Changhua County, while the latter to the east runs from Dajia to Cingshuei.

The Old Mountain Line was constructed in 1903 and began operating in 1908, the TRA said.

Operations ceased in 1998, when the agency switched the route to the New Mountain Line after a dual-track system was completed in Taichung.

However, local government officials and private organizations have been urging the restoration of the Old Mountain Line, while the Bureau of Cultural Heritage has listed it as a potential world heritage site.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications last year asked the TRA to devise a plan to restore the line.

“We plan to spend about NT$2.2 billion to restore the 15.9km line from Sanyi in Miaoli County to Taichung’s Houli District. The restoration will take about four-and-a-half years,” TRA Planning Department Director Kuo Kuan-hung said.

The restoration project would cover six railway crossings, four stations, six steel bridges and eight tunnels, Kuo said.

Both rail bikes and trains would operate on the Old Mountain Line once it has been restored, he said.

The restored line would help connect important tourism corridors in central Taiwan, from a locomotive park in Miaoli to Taian Railway Culture Park in Taichung and the fan-shaped train depot in Changhua, Kuo said.

It could also be connected to Chengcheng and Sun Moon Lake via the Jiji Line, he added.

“We have estimated that restoration could begin next year and be completed by 2024. After construction is completed, we can then apply for the line to be inspected before it begins operations in 2025,” Kuo said.

The TRA could outsource the operation of the Old Mountain Line to a contractor, or the Miaoli County and Taichung City governments, Kuo said.

There are expected to be relatively few visitors to the Old Mountain Line when it opens, with the preliminary plan being that tourists could use rail bikes on the line on weekdays, he said.

At weekends, the contractor could dispatch locomotives that are able to carry 20 to 30 passengers from Sanyi to Shengsing, and from Old Taian Station to Houli, Kuo said.

Tourists could then take rail bikes from Shengsing to Old Taian Station, he added.