Xiao Qingyang's Kids' Play Festival Painted Train – Ride the A-Fu Train for Discounts and Fun

By / MOOK Scenic Spots Family Travel Network Editorial Team
 

The Yilan Kids' Play Festival officially kicks off on July 4. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, this year’s event has specially collaborated with Taiwan Railways to launch its first-ever painted train, the “Kids’ Play Fly Express.” Designed by internationally acclaimed designer Xiao Qingyang, the design takes inspiration from this year’s main visual theme of “flying,” incorporating computer symbols along with vibrant geometric patterns. The train also features scenes of the Lanyang Plain, Taiwanese opera, international performance troupes at the festival, and playful water activities, creating a colorful, cartoon-style painted train. It not only aims to ensure smooth travel for visitors to the festival but also serves as a fantastic promotion for Yilan.

The annual Kids' Play Festival is a major summer tourism event in Yilan, attracting nearly 600,000 visitors each year. This year, the Yilan County Government specially invited Xiao Qingyang to transform the EMU700 electric multiple unit train, nicknamed the A-Fu Train, into the cartoonish “Kids’ Play Fly Express.” By combining familiar Yilan elements and Kids' Play Festival imagery with Xiao Qingyang’s signature vibrant geometric style, eight uniquely themed painted carriages have been created, making the journey to the festival as fun as the destination itself.

During the weekends of the Kids' Play Festival, Taiwan Railways will also add four extra train services daily between Taipei and Yilan, operated by the Kids’ Play Fly Express, running between Shulin and Luodong. On Saturdays and Sundays, departures toward Yilan and Luodong from Taipei Station are scheduled at08:35and14:08; return trips from Luodong to Taipei are scheduled at10:39and17:05. Ticket prices follow the standard Taiwan Railways regional train one-way fare of153NTD, with round-trip tickets available at a discounted rate of276NTD. On weekdays when no extra trains are added, the Kids’ Play Fly Express may also operate between Miaoli-and Su’ao according to scheduling, giving residents across northern Taiwan a chance to see this colorful painted train.During the event period, passengers traveling to the Kids' Play Festival by Taiwan Railways can also enjoy an exclusive discount: bring your rail ticket stub to get one person free with every three paying customers on weekdays, or one free with every four paying customers on weekends.。