Shifen Train Station 十分车站

I took the train from Ruifang to the village of Shifen 十分 in Northeastern Taipei. I was pleasantly surprised that they have an extensive rail network here. I was under the impression that trains here in Taiwan would only be limited to metro systems and bullet trains. However, I didn’t know there was an older rail network here. The rail network isn’t that very modern. The trains looked old. The stations also looked old but that it perfectly fine. I think it adds a lot of character to the place. The train to Shifen wound it way through the mountains eventually pulling over at the village of Shifen.

One’s first introduction to the village of Shifen would most certainly be the train station. Much like the rest of the rural train network, it isn’t modernized and in fact it looks very manual. There would still be people making sure the tracks are clear when a train passes by. The station itself considering the popularity of Shifen as a destination is remarkably small. Trains here are quite frequent so there is no running out of trains to catch. The platform is small so it would be impossible to build a stairs which go under the rails to allow passenger to cross safely. So everyone just crosses the rails whenever there are no trains. It is actually quite amusing to watch how the rails would clear quickly when a train approaches.

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