Taiwan Railways' Blessing Cruise-Style Round-Island Train Relay Launches; Booking Opens on the 16th

▲ Illustration. The image above shows the Alishan Forest Railway cruise-style train (Photo / Provided by Taiwan Railways)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Combining the features of round-island travel, traditional New Year customs, and the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival, Taiwan Railways will launch a New Year’s round-island blessing cultural and creative themed train from March 1 to 5, with bookings opening on February 16 on the TRA cruise-style train booking webpage.

The blessing cruise-style train consists of five connected segments: “Rice Country Cycling & Mountain Secrets” between Xinzuoying and Chihshang, “Lantern Festival Light Train Exploration Journey” between Hualien and Ruisui, “Ancient City Blessing” between Su’ao and Hsinchu, “New Year Flower Lantern Tour” from Taipei to Fengyuan, and “New Fragrance Flower Lantern Tour” from Taipei to Fengyuan.

In addition, in conjunction with the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival, TRA will operate an additional round-trip lantern-viewing train from Songshan to Sinwu daily from March 6 to 15 during the lantern festival period, with online and phone bookings opening two weeks in advance, just like regular reserved-seat trains.

The itinerary plans for each segment are as follows:
(1) March 1 — Xinzuoying = Chihshang “Rice Country Cycling & Mountain Secrets”
(2) March 2 — Hualien = Ruisui “Lantern Festival Light Train Exploration Journey”
(3) March 3 — Su’ao = Hsinchu “Ancient City Blessing”
(4) March 4 — Taipei = Fengyuan “New Year Flower Lantern Tour”
(5) March 5 — Sinzuoying = Zhuifen = Zhunan “2015 Light Up Happiness One-Day Tour”