New rail opens vistas in Tainan

Tainan’s urban railway undergrounding project, which has been in the works for 16 years, reached a major milestone this month. The Railway Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications held a farewell event for the above-ground station on Oct. 17, and the first section of its underground successor opened for business the following day. The railway line that has long cut through central Tainan is set to fade from the city’s landscape.

Across the project’s full span of 8.23km, traffic barriers including level crossings, overpasses, underpasses and bridges are to be removed, reconnecting the eastern and western sides of the city.

However, the most important policy questions are yet to come. This includes how the freed up land is to be used, how the plans to turn the former railway corridor into a greenway are designed, how neighborhoods are reconnected, and how the new railway station is integrated with bus, walking and cycling links and the future metro system. Together, these factors would determine the long-term value of this major public infrastructure project for residents.

Current plans for the greenway envision cycle paths, pedestrian spaces and green areas. Done right, this corridor could reconnect residential neighborhoods, schools, shopping districts and public facilities that were previously separated by the railway. Design priorities should include continuous pedestrian routes, shade, nighttime lighting, accessible facilities, cycling routes and safe crossings at intersections. It should not be divided up into fragmented parking areas. Given Tainan’s hot summers, the choice of plants, tree canopy coverage and the provision of rest spots would also prove critical.

The city government could publish design plans for each section, construction schedules and records of public consultation, allowing local residents to understand the planned changes in advance. After significant levels of public investment, the space that is given back should be genuinely walkable and offer people a place in which to slow down; only then would the benefits of the underground railway be borne out in residents’ daily commutes, walks and shopping trips.

Tainan has long been dependent on cars and scooters for transportation. If people still have to drive themselves to get to the new underground stations, the benefits of the railway investment could be limited. The city government should review bus stop locations, transfer distances, taxi ranks, YouBike stations, bicycle parking and pedestrian crossings to ensure easy access to railway stations.

As Linsen (林森) and South Tainan (南台南) stations begin operating, and plans for the Tainan Metro network advance, Taiwan Railways could also become a key component of the city’s north-south public transport network. A unified transfer plan and passenger information system should be established now, with ticketing data being used to identify passenger routes and transfer needs. The value of major rail infrastructure increases with the degree of integration with surrounding transport networks; roads and bus services near the stations should be adjusted in tandem with the undergrounding project.

The government has tended to evaluate major infrastructure projects primarily in terms of construction progress, budget execution and opening dates. After the railway opens, more meaningful indicators would include travel time reductions, whether public transport use increases and conditions for pedestrians and cyclists improve, how the project affects local shopping districts and residents’ daily lives and public utilization of the completed greenway. The city government could publish these figures regularly over the next five to 10 years, allowing residents to see the tangible changes brought about by the underground railway.

The railway’s move underground gives Tainan a rare opportunity to reconfigure its public spaces. If transport, green space, cultural preservation, flood control, public transport and urban renewal can be planned together, the project’s legacy could extend far beyond an underground railway line. A truly successful effort to reconnect the city should allow residents on either side of the former railway corridor to coexist within the same urban space.