By KHT Staff. Images by Eryk Michael Smith.
KAOHSIUNG — Taiwan’s high-speed rail line will mark its 20th anniversary in January 2027, and its operator is touting its hand in turning the area around Zuoying Station (左營區) from farmland into a hub for southern Taiwan’s tech and business sectors.
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (台灣高速鐵路股份有限公司) said Zuoying functions as a three-way transfer hub, meaning riders can switch between the high-speed line, Taiwan Railway trains and the Kaohsiung MRT at a single station. The company said the hub is drawing new activity by linking to the Nanzih District (楠梓區) semiconductor corridor and the Asia New Bay Area (亞洲新灣區), a waterfront redevelopment zone in the city.
Company chairman Shih Che (史哲) told Liberty Times the growth reflects a broader pattern developing around all 12 stations on the line. He described it as a “high-speed rail baby boom,” with station areas gradually turning into what he called “high-speed rail cities.”
Shih said the line’s impact has moved beyond simple commuting. He said it is now shaping where people choose to live and where industries set up, and that the next goal for station-area development is livability rather than just growth.
Nationally, the company’s analysis found Taoyuan and Hsinchu stations have the youngest populations on the network. Seventy percent of residents near Taoyuan Station are under 45, the company said, while the population under 45 near Hsinchu Station has grown more than 40 percent, driven largely by the area’s tech industry.
Other stations are following different paths, according to the company. Taichung’s Wuri area has grown from a farming community into a transit and exhibition hub. Chiayi’s station area is developing around the National Palace Museum Southern Branch and a science park. Miaoli, Changhua and Yunlin stations are each tied to smaller-scale industrial or agricultural shifts in their areas.
