Circular light rail

The Circular light rail (Chinese: 環狀輕軌) is a light rail line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, operated by Kaohsiung Rapid Transit.[6] The south part of this line makes use of the defunct tracks of the Kaohsiung Harbour Line.

Circular light rail
CAF Urbos trams parked at Cianjhen Star
Overview
Native name
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese環狀輕軌
StatusOperational
OwnerKaohsiung City Government
LocaleKaohsiung, Taiwan
TerminiLizihnei
Hamasen
Stations23
Websitekrtco.com.tw
Service
TypeLight rail
SystemKaohsiung Rapid Transit
ServicesLizihnei–Hamasen
Operator(s)Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation
Depot(s)Cianjhen Depot
Rolling stockCAF Urbos[1]
Alstom Citadis[2]
Daily ridership9499[3]
Ridership3,364,578 (2018)
History
Opened2016-07-04[4]
Technical
Line length12.8 km (8.0 mi)
Number of tracks2
CharacterGround level, elevated
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
ElectrificationElectric capacitor
Operating speed70 km/h (43 mph) maximum[5]
Map
 
Lizihnei
 Kaisyuan Rueitian
 Cianjhen Star
 Kaisyuan
(  R  )
 Kaisyuan Jhonghua
 Dream Mall
Commerce & Trade Park
 Software Technology Park
 Kaohsiung Exhibition Center
 Cruise Terminal
 Glory Pier
Love River
 Love Pier
Dayi Pier-2
 Penglai Pier-2
 Hamasen
 Sizihwan
(  O )
 Shoushan Park
 Wenwu Temple
 Gushan District Office
(  West Coast)
 Gushan
 Makatao
 TRA Museum of Fine Arts
( West Coast )
 Museum of Fine Arts West
 Museum of Fine Arts East
 Kaohsing Municipal United Hospital
 Longhua Elementary School
 Heart of Love River
 Aozihdi
(  R  )
 Sinshan Elementary Schhol
 Wanzhinei
Love River
 Dingshan Street
 Kaohsiung Industrial High School
 Shu-Te Home Economics & Commercial High School
 Science and Technorogy Museum
 Science and Technology Museum
( West Coast )
 St. Joseph Hospital
Wukuaicuo
(  O  )
 Kaisyuan Park
 Department of Health
 Wucyuan Elementary School
 Kaisyuan Wuchang
 Kaisyuan Ersheng
 LRT Depot
C1 Station (March 9, 2015)
C3 station (August 27 2016)
C11 station (July 22 2017)
Future C4 station approximate location in July 2013.
Future C8 station approximate location in July 2013. Old railway, used as a bikepath.

Forecast to cost 16.5 billion New Taiwan dollars, it is expected be the world's first light rail vehicle system on a fully catenary-free route.[7][8]

Phase I construction consists of a section of line from Station C1 to Station C14, where Stations C3 and C14 are the transfer stations to Red line and Orange line, respectively. Construction of Phase I began on 4 June 2013.[9] Stations C1 to C14 were tested from August 2015 (rides on the trams are open to the public for free during testing[10]). The civil construction part of stations C1 to C14 had been completed, and Phase I achieved full operations on September 2017.[11][12] The CAF Urbos trams used in this line parked at or passed by these stations for demonstrations and tests in several events from November 2014 onwards.

Phase II construction will not start until the Kaohsiung urban railway is relocated underground in 2017. It partially opened on January 12, 2021.[13] The northern section was originally scheduled to be completed in June 2021 with the rest of phase II, but was delayed due to opposition of local residents. It is now projected to open in 2023.[14][15]

History
Phase Segment Commencement Length Stations
I Lizihnei - Hamasen July 4, 2016[9] 8.7[15] 14
II Initial Hamasen - Singlong Rd.

Lizihnei - Rainbow Park

 January 12, 2021[15] 4.1[15] 9
II Full Singlong Rd. - Rainbow Park 2023 9.3 15

Stations
CodeStation NameConnectionDistrict
EnglishChinese
— ↑ Loop line towards Depot ↑ —
C1Lizihnei籬仔內  Fongshan  (planned) Cianjhen
C2Kaisyuan Rueitian凱旋瑞田
C3Cianjhen Star前鎮之星  R  via Kaisyuan (R6)
C4Kaisyuan Jhonghua凱旋中華
C5Dream Mall夢時代
C6Commerce and Trade Park經貿園區
C7Software Technology Park軟體園區
C8Kaohsiung Exhibition Center高雄展覽館
C9Cruise Terminal旅運中心 Lingya
C10Glory Pier光榮碼頭
C11Love Pier真愛碼頭 Yancheng
C12Dayi Pier-2駁二大義
C13Penglai Pier-2駁二蓬萊 Gushan
C14Hamasen哈瑪星  O  via Sizihwan (O1)
C15Shoushan Park
(ALIEN Art Centre)		壽山公園
(金馬賓館當代美術館)
C16Wenwu Temple文武聖殿
C17Gushan District Office鼓山區公所
C18Gushan鼓山 Gushan
C19MaKatao馬卡道
C20TRA Museum of Fine Arts Station臺鐵美術館 Museum of Fine Arts
C21AMuseum of Fine Art West美術館西
C21Museum of Fine Art East美術館東
C22Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital聯合醫院
C23Longhua Elementary School龍華國小
C24Heart of Love River愛河之心  R  via Aozihdi (R13)
C25Sin-shan Elementary School新上國小 Zuoying
C26Wanzihnei灣仔內 Sanmin
C27Dingshan Strees鼎山街
C28Kaohsiung Industrial High School高雄高工
C29Shu-Te Home Economics & Commercial High School樹德家商
C30Science and Technology Museum科工館 Science and Technology Museum
C31St. Joseph Hospital聖功醫院 Lingya
C32Kaisyuan Park凱旋公園  O  via Wukuaicuo (O8),via Culture Center (O7)
C33Department of Health衛生局
C34Wucyuan Elementary Scool五權國小  Yellow  (planned)
C35Kaisyuan Wuchang凱旋武昌
C36Kaisyuan Ersheng凱旋二聖 Cianjhen
C37LRT Depot輕軌機廠
— ↓ Loop line towards Lizihnei ↓ —

Rolling stock
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit System Circular light rail CAF Urbos

The line's fleet consist of nine CAF Urbos trams that will operate catenary-free.[8] The tramway cars are 34 meters (112 ft) in length, and will be able to transport a total of 250 passengers (seated, and standing).[7]

15 Alstom Citadis X05 305 trains will be introduced.[16] The first Alstom trams entered service in November 2020.[16]

LRT C8 Station and the 85 Sky Tower

Ticket

Unlike the Kaohsiung MRT Red Line and the Orange Line, the Kaohsiung Light Rail is charged at a lower rate. As of January 2019, the fare for each light rail is NT$30. There is special offer by using the digital wallet (such as iPass, EasyCard, icash, etc.) is NT$10. Card readers are available at each station and inside of tramway. When paying the fare by the e-ticket (digital wallet), passengers are only charged one of them at each time. When paying by cash, passengers can purchase tickets at the ticket vending machines at each station for the ticket inspector to check.

Previous light rail demonstration project
The Siemens Combino vehicle was used for light rail demonstration at Central Park, Kaohsiung in 2004.

In 2004, the Kaohsiung City Government and Siemens built a temporary two-station circular light rail line in Central Park, operated by a single trainset, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of building a light rail system in Kaohsiung City. It was meant to alleviate some residents' concerns that light rail would negatively impact their surroundings by producing excessive noise and hindering normal traffic flow. This Siemens Combino vehicle would later become the D2 Class operated in Melbourne, Australia.

See also

References
  1. "Kaohsiung picks CAF to build catenary-free trams". Railway Gazette International. 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  2. "The 1st tram for Kaohsiung arrives in Taiwan". 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  3. "Transport statistics". stat.motc.gov.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  4. "領先全台 高雄輕軌4日正式通車 | 社會". 新頭殼 Newtalk (in Chinese). 4 July 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  5. "KAOHSIUNG LRV". CAF. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  6. "Light Rail System - Project Content". Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  7. "Trams: Kaohsiung Launches Taiwan's First Light Rail Service". Kaohsiung City Government. 2015-01-08. Archived from the original on 2015-01-28. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  8. "Trams: KAOHSIUNG TRAMWAY". CAF. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  9. "Kaohsiung begins circular light rail construction". Focus Taiwan News Channel. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
  10. Tim Berge (2015-10-16). "Kaohsiung LRT Opens to Public". ICRT FM.100. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  11. "About Taiwan". Info Taiwan. 2014-03-17. Archived from the original on 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  12. James Chuang (2015-06-08). "Kaohsiung light rail line set to go full circle". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  13. "New light rail stop - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  14. "Kaohsiung light rail system to be completed by 2023: mayor - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  15. "New Kaohsiung circular light rail section to go into service Jan. 12 - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  16. "Alstom Citadis X05 trams enter service on South Circular LRT in Taiwan". Railway Technology. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
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