Oh Bear Travel’s Smile Tourism Train Makes Its Inaugural Voyage

By MOOK Scenic Spots Family, compiled and reported

The Tourism Bureau and Taiwan Railways Administration jointly created a fully painted EMU800 series “Smile” local train for the three black bear mascots. Inside and outside the train cars, you can see the adorable images of Oh Bear Team Leader and the Travel Bears, and custom plush toys of each mascot were placed in separate carriages. Adding to last year’s Oh Bear plush enjoying a giant TRA lunchbox on the train, this transforms the entire train into a moving tourist attraction, adding more fun for southern passengers riding the painted train.

The Tourism Bureau stated that the 2015 Oh Bear Team Leader’s TRA painted train was very well received, but since it only ran in the north (Su’ao–Changhua), many fans in the south and rail enthusiasts were also eager to ride the Oh Bear painted train. Therefore, in 2016, the design theme was specially focused on southern tourism activities and industries, and the train was assigned to operate on southern local lines, presenting the travel adventure experiences of Oh Bear Team Leader and the Travel Bear siblings in southern Taiwan. The train will appear daily on southern tracks for fans to meet, and exclusive commemorative stamps for the tourism train will also be provided, allowing fans to collect train-specific stamps at stations in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Xinzuoying, and Pingtung.