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Circular light rail
Light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| color | |
| logo | Kaohsiung LRT Circular Line.svg |
| logo_width | 38px |
| image | C3 Star of Cianjhen Station.JPG |
| caption | CAF Urbos 3 trams parked at Cianjhen Star |
| type | Light rail |
| system | Kaohsiung Metro |
| locale | Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
| end | circular |
| stations | 38 |
| daily_ridership | 10 000 |
| ridership2 | 3,360,000 (2018) |
| planopen | |
| open | 16 October 2015 |
| yearcommenced | (phase 1) |
| yearcompleted | |
| owner | Kaohsiung City Government |
| operator | Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation |
| character | At-grade, elevated |
| depot | Cianjhen Depot |
| stock | CAF Urbos 3 |
| Alstom Citadis 305 | |
| linelength | 22.1 km |
| tracks | 2 |
| gauge | |
| electrification | Electric capacitor |
| speed | 70 km/h maximum |
| website | krtco.com.tw |
| map | |
| map_name | Map |
| map_state | collapsed |
Alstom Citadis 305



The Kaohsiung Circular Light Rail () is a light rail loop line in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, operated by the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation. The line stretches over a length of 22.1 kilometers and has 38 stations. The southern part of this line makes use of the defunct tracks of the Kaohsiung Harbor Railway Line. Construction cost was forecasted to be 16.5 billion New Taiwan dollars.
Phase I consists of the section of the line from Station C1 to Station C14, of which Stations C3 and C14 are transfer stations to the KMRT and , respectively. Construction of Phase I began on 4 June 2013. Stations C1 to C14 were open on a test-basis (free for the public) from August 2015, and commenced formal operations in September 2017.
Phase II construction of the northern section partially began on 12 January 2021 after the underground relocation of the Kaohsiung urban railway. The northern part of Phase II was scheduled to be opened in June 2021 along with the rest, but was delayed until 1 January 2024 due to local opposition.
History
| Phase | Segment | Commencement | Length (km) | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Lizihnei - Hamasen | 4 July 2016 | 8.7 | 14 |
| II Phase 1 | Hamasen - Gushan District Office | |||
| Lizihnei - Kaisyuan Park | 12 January 2021 | 4.1 | 9 | |
| II Phase 2 | Gushan District Office - TRA Museum of Fine Arts | 16 December 2021 | 1.8 | 3 |
| II Phase 3 | TRA Museum of Fine Arts - Heart of Love River | 5 October 2022 | 2.4 | 4 |
| II Full | Heart of Love River - Kaisyuan Park | 1 January 2024 | 5 | 7 |
Stations
| Code | Station Name | Connection | District | English | Chinese | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — ↑ Loop line towards Depot ↑ — | |||||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C1 | 籬仔內 | Cianjhen | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C2 | 凱旋瑞田 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C3 | 前鎮之星 | via (R6) | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C4 | 凱旋中華 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C5 | 夢時代 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C6 | 經貿園區 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C7 | 軟體園區 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C8 | 高雄展覽館 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C9 | 旅運中心 | (planned) | Lingya | |||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C10 | 光榮碼頭 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C11 | 真愛碼頭 | Yancheng | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C12 | 駁二大義 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C13 | 駁二蓬萊 | Gushan | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C14 | 哈瑪星 | via (O1) | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C15 | ||||||
| (ALIEN Art Centre) | 壽山公園(金馬賓館當代美術館) | ||||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C16 | 文武聖殿 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C17 | 鼓山區公所 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C18 | Gushan | 鼓山 | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C19 | 馬卡道 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C20 | TRA Museum of Fine Arts Station | 臺鐵美術館 | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C21A | 內惟藝術中心 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C21 | 美術館 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C22 | 聯合醫院 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C23 | 龍華國小 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C24 | 愛河之心 | via (R13) | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C25 | 新上國小 | Zuoying | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C26 | 大順民族 | Sanmin | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C27 | 灣仔內 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C28 | 高雄高工 | (planned) | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C29 | 樹德家商 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C30 | Science and Technology Museum | 科工館 | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C31 | 聖功醫院 | Lingya | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C32 | 凱旋公園 | via (O8), via (O7) | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C33 | 衛生局 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C34 | 五權國小 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C35 | 凱旋武昌 | |||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C36 | 凱旋二聖 | Cianjhen | ||||
| Kaohsiung Metro | C}};"C37 | 輕軌機廠 | |||||
| — ↓ Loop line towards ↓ — |
Rolling stock

_(53607047337)_-_cropped.jpg)
The line's fleet consists of nine CAF Urbos trams that are powered by supercapacitor banks. The tramway cars are 34 m in length, and are able to transport a total of 250 passengers (seated, and standing).
15 Alstom Citadis 305 tramway cars entered service in November 2020.
Ticket
Unlike the Kaohsiung Metro Red and Orange Lines, 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 rate of NT$10 by using a digital wallet (such as iPass, EasyCard, icash, etc). 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
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, 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.
References
References
- "Kaohsiung Light Rail".
- "Transport statistics".
- (4 July 2016). "領先全台 高雄輕軌4日正式通車 {{!}} 社會".
- (7 January 2013). "Kaohsiung picks CAF to build catenary-free trams". [[Railway Gazette International]].
- (4 September 2018). "The 1st tram for Kaohsiung arrives in Taiwan".
- "KAOHSIUNG LRV". CAF.
- (17 August 2012). "Light Rail System - Project Content". Mass Rapid Transit Bureau, Kaohsiung City.
- (8 January 2015). "Trams: Kaohsiung Launches Taiwan's First Light Rail Service". Kaohsiung City Government.
- (4 June 2013). "Kaohsiung begins circular light rail construction". Focus Taiwan News Channel.
- Tim Berge. (16 October 2015). "Kaohsiung LRT Opens to Public".
- (17 March 2014). "About Taiwan". Info Taiwan.
- James Chuang. (8 June 2015). "Kaohsiung light rail line set to go full circle".
- (12 January 2021). "New light rail stop - Focus Taiwan".
- (10 November 2020). "Kaohsiung light rail system to be completed by 2023: mayor - Focus Taiwan".
- (6 January 2021). "New Kaohsiung circular light rail section to go into service Jan. 12 - Focus Taiwan".
- "Trams: KAOHSIUNG TRAMWAY". [[Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.
- (13 January 2021). "Alstom Citadis X05 trams enter service on South Circular LRT in Taiwan". Railway Technology.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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