By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — Taiwan Railway Corp. (台鐵) plans to replace the earthquake-damaged 1966 building at Luzhu Station (路竹車站), with the old structure to be demolished only after a new station is built nearby, the United Daily News reported Monday, Aug. 31.
The project has a budget of more than NT$170 million and is expected to enter procurement in September. The new building will occupy vacant land north of the existing station in Luzhu District (路竹區), allowing passenger services to continue during construction.
The railway operator said the existing building’s main structure had sustained earthquake damage. Reinforcement work was completed in 2024, while a 2020 assessment found that the station did not meet seismic standards. Nearby businesses had also reported seeing part of its ceiling collapse.
From salt freight hub to local landmark
The first station opened in 1902 as Banluzhu Station (半路竹驛), using a wooden building of about 1.5 ping, or roughly 5 square meters. It was renamed Luzhu in 1920 and rebuilt in 1966 with the flat-roofed concrete structure that remains today.
The current building features wooden lattice windows and exposed-aggregate walls. A railway maintenance warehouse and a salt storage building also stood beside the station.
Former community association chair Kao Chun-tao (高春桃) said the surrounding area was once largely farmland. Coarse salt from the nearby Yongan salt fields (永安鹽田) was taken to warehouses at the station before being distributed around Taiwan by train.
Community records station memories
A community development association in Luzhu has begun interviewing residents and visiting stations including Bao’an (保安) and Qiaotou (橋頭). It plans to compile the collected material into a picture book or a longer publication.
Veteran journalist and local historian Ho Lai-mei (何來美) told the United Daily News that eight Taiwan stations once shared a similar flat-roofed concrete design. After the demolition of Tamsui’s station, examples remain at Zaoqiao, Tongluo, Tai’an, Qingshui, Ershui, Luzhu and Ciaotou, he said.
Balin Station footbridge planned for 2027
In a separate southern Taiwan rail project, an elevated pedestrian crossing and accessible elevators are under construction at Balin Station (拔林車站), an unstaffed local-train stop in Tainan’s Guantian District (官田區).
A separate United Daily News report said annual entries and exits at Balin increased from about 62,000 in 2023 to 65,000 in 2024 as commuting demand linked to the Southern Taiwan Science Park grew.
The station currently has an entrance only on its eastern side, although many residents live to the west. Local officials said this has concentrated parking and passenger traffic on one side of the tracks.
Residents had sought the footbridge for more than a decade, but earlier proposals were rejected because Balin had the lowest passenger volume among Tainan’s 16 railway stations. Local representatives later secured more than NT$50 million for the project, which is expected to be completed in June 2027. They also plan to seek a YouBike station to improve transfers.
